Pakistan captain Babar Azam said, “In the past, we played in the T20 World Cup final and semi-final, and also the Asia Cup final, but we could not finish well. I accept that in this T20 World Cup, we did not play cricket according to our team’s potential and our expectations. In this T20 World Cup, you should not blame only one player; every player from the squad is responsible for this performance. We lost as a team, and now we should grow as a team for the future. We will discuss the mistakes that we made in the T20 World Cup. As a captain, I hope that our team will perform well in the future.”
Is Pakistani players playing with a fear of failure?
Babar Azam said, “In our team, many players have been playing for five to six years, so there is no need to play with a fear of failure. They know very well what to do in different conditions according to their experience. It is not possible to hit a six on every ball or take a wicket on every ball. It’s all about the game of mindset and playing according to conditions. In these conditions, it was very difficult to bat on these pitches. As a batsman, I feel that the pitches should be better than these, especially in big tournaments. But you have to be proactive about what the conditions demand. On these pitches, partnerships are required; it is a game of awareness and common sense.”
How tough to bat on these pitches?
On these pitches, it is very difficult for batsmen to bat because of the two-paced behavior of the pitches. Sometimes the ball gets a lot of height, and sometimes it remains low, so it is very difficult for batters to judge the ball.
Will Babar Azam remain as a captain of the Pakistan team?
Despite bad performances in this T20 World Cup and also in previous tournaments, PCB has not changed the captain of the Pakistan team. It means Babar Azam will remain as captain of the Pakistan cricket team until the Champions Trophy 2025. After the Champions Trophy, PCB will make a decision regarding Babar Azam’s captaincy. Babar Azam also said that he will take responsibility for captaincy on behalf of PCB and if PCB removes him from this position, he will accept that.
Why did Pakistani batters not perform well in this T20 World Cup?
In every T20 or ODI World Cup, Pakistan’s team always has problems with their batting. Similarly, this time Pakistan’s batting could not perform well; even Pakistan could not chase down a low total of 120 against India. The main reason behind Pakistan’s batting failure is the lack of partnerships. On these pitches, it is necessary to build partnerships and play slowly in the first 10 overs to keep wickets in hand and then accelerate in the last six overs to set up a good target or chase down the required target. However, Pakistan played slowly in the first 10 overs and also lost their wickets, which created problems for them. Another reason is that Pakistan does not have a proper finisher who can single-handedly finish the game; there is no power in their power hitters to hit consecutive sixes—even Pakistani bowlers(Naseem and Shaheen) hit better sixes and boundaries than Pakistani hitters.
Imad Wasim and Muhammad Amir’s contribution to Pakistan cricket team
Muhammad Amir and Imad Wasim are both experienced players on the Pakistani cricket team; they have played together for Pakistan for a long time. They took retirement but came back for this T20 World Cup. Both players performed well in the past and also did a good job in this T20 World Cup—especially Muhammad Amir with the new ball was very useful for Pakistan. In this T20 World Cup, Amir also did a good job in middle and death overs. Muhammad Amir is the only bowler in this T20 World Cup who did not concede any sixes throughout the tournament; this is a significant achievement for Amir and the Pakistan team. On the other hand, Imad Wasim also played an important role in Pakistan’s spin department; he remained very economical and also took wickets in the middle when Pakistan needed them. In conclusion, both players performed well for Pakistan in this T20 World Cup.