June 10 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Despite 120 being a tricky chase, Pakistan emerged as the favourites to chase it down and inflict a repeat of their Dubai heroics against India in New York on Sunday. They cruised to 80 for three in 14 overs, with Mohammad Rizwan single-handedly dictating the chase. However, in a moment of brilliance from Jasprit Bumrah and his fellow fast bowlers, Pakistan succumbed to a six-run loss in the second T20 World Cup match, leaving their campaign hanging in the balance.
Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram fumed at the senior cricketers in Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Fakhar Zaman for lacking game awareness as the 2009 champions were restricted to just 113 for seven in 20 overs.
“They have been playing cricket for 10 years, and I can’t teach them. Rizwan has no game awareness,” Akram said on Star Sports after the match as he recalled the needless slog that the wicketkeeper-batter went for in Bumrah’s first delivery in the fresh spell. “He should have known that Bumrah was given the ball to take wickets and that the wise thing would have been to play his deliveries cautiously. But Rizwan went for a big shot and lost his wicket.”
“Pakistani players think that if they don’t perform well, the coaches will be sacked, and nothing will happen to them. It is time to keep the coaches and change the entire team,” he added.
The legendary fast bowler also lashed out at captain Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi, revealing that they are not on talking terms since the change in captaincy last month.
“There are players who don’t want to talk to each other. This is international cricket, and you play for your country. Make these players sit at home,” he said.
Shoaib Akhtar, speaking on his YouTube channel after the match, too was left baffled at how Pakistan crumbled under pressure from a winning position, as he lashed out at the middle-order for not applying themselves during the chase.
“Very disappointing. It was a run-a-ball chance for Pakistan. Earlier, India’s middle-order messed it up. They were 80-odd in 11 overs and could have achieved around 160 but couldn’t. But for Pakistan, it was a close chance. Rizwan could have scored another 20 runs and won the game for the team. Sadly, we didn’t apply our brains,” the former fast bowler said. “A lot of things are questionable, their intent, the application… it’s really sad for the team. Pakistan should have won this game. They were pretty much in the game, requiring 46 runs in 47 balls when Fakhar was there. We had 7 wickets in hand but we couldn’t do it. I’m speechless and hurt, that’s about it.”
Another legendary Pakistan pacer, Waqar Younis, admitted that he was left speechless at the sight of Pakistan’s “horrible” show against India.
“They are a super team. Pakistan – if you can’t win this game, what should I say? This was given to you on a plate and Pakistan really spilled it. It was a horrible performance by the Pakistani batters. There were a few partnerships in the beginning but they couldn’t really finish the game,” he told Star Sports.