DALLAS: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has opened up on the extent of his team’s underperformance in Thursday’s T20 World Cup loss to United States of America, admitting that his side were “not playing good in all three departments”.
Babar said that Pakistan were off the mark in the Powerplay, slow through the middle overs and disappointing at the death with the batting. He said that then with the ball Pakistani side didn’t implement early plans with pace on, and failed to take wickets with spin through the middle overs.
Plans were not implemented in the Super Over, fielding was poor, and the players did not assess conditions well enough. The skipper said that he is very upset after the match.
“We are not playing good in all three departments and we are better than that. In the bowling in the first six overs we were not taking wickets, in the middle overs the spinners are not taking wickets and then there’s pressure on us,” he said.
He said that after 10 overs they knew they would come back, but he thought they way they finished the match and in the Super Overs, “I think credit to the USA team.”
https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/errors-in-all-three-departments-babar-azam-unpicks-pakistan-s-shock-usa-loss
Babar Azam top-scored with 44 runs from 43 balls on the day, helping his side rebuild following a loss of three wickets in the Powerplay. But he admitted that there was only one partnership in the batting performance that even came close to the plan. He said that in the first six overs while batting, they couldn’t capitalize it. The skipper added that after ten overs they had momentum, but again they lost too many wickets and the momentum was gone. He further said that overall the team also didn’t adjust to the conditions at the Grand Prairie Stadium.
Pakistani side will return to action in a high-profile match with India in New York on Sunday. And the Pakistan skipper says that the death-over strategy with the ball for that crunch clash will not change despite Thursday’s loss.
