In the aftermath of Pakistan’s defeat to England in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, which took place at the MCG, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has defended his team’s approach with the bat.
Only Shan Masood and Shadab Khan scored at a rate that was higher than 130 out of the recognized batters in Pakistan’s first innings, which led to the team’s score of 137 for 8 after 20 overs.
Babar Azam and the other Pakistani batters struggled throughout the first innings
“I’m terribly sad. “I think we were 20 runs short, and because of that, we weren’t able to defend,” the Pakistan captain remarked in his post-match media conference.
“Playing for Pakistan is something that fills us with immense pride. It is a terrible feeling when you know you won’t be able to finish it. But I’m disappointed.
“At that time, we were in a different circumstance. We made an effort to form collaborations, but we were unable to do so. When a wicket is lost, the batter is out, and it usually takes him two or three balls to get back into his rhythm. The batting unit that we were in started off on the wrong foot.
Both Babar Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan are regarded as some of the best Twenty20 International batters in the world and have combined to score a significant number of runs for Pakistan in recent years.
However, the two have been called out on occasion for the risk-averse strategy that they employ during the Powerplay. As a result, they score runs at a pace that is relatively slow in comparison to that of other top nations, and they wait for the rest of the team to capitalize on the opportunities presented to them in the first half of the innings.
The same thing happened in the championship match: Babar Azam scored 32 points out of 28 while Rizwan scored 15 points out of 14. However, according to the skipper, the strategy might not be such a bad idea after all.
“It is dependent on the circumstances. I believe that throughout the first six overs, they had three dismissals whereas we only had two. It is dependent upon the circumstances and the situation at hand, what is expected of you, and what your plans are after that. We stayed true to our plan, which is something that any team should do.
“There are times when we are unable to devote our full efforts to it. We make an effort to learn from our past errors. However, this is just a normal element of the game. You’ll have some successful times and other less successful times. The appeal of cricket lies precisely in this aspect. Every day is unique in its own way.”
The middle order of Pakistan’s T20 batting lineup has had difficulty making a mark on the game on occasion over the past couple of years due to the fact that the openers so frequently take control of the situation.
With the exception of Masood’s 28-ball 38 and Shadab’s quickfire 20, the players who batted lower in the order did not make significant contributions during the final.
When the captain was asked if he was upset with the middle order, he responded as follows:
“We have triumphed as a team. We are unsuccessful as a group. Due to the manner in which we got began, we were unable to end strongly. At the end of the 11th over, the score was 80-85. My opinion is that we should have stopped at 150. I believe that we were negligent in several regards.”
Following the conclusion of this year’s tournament, there will be an opportunity for teams to make adjustments in order to better prepare for the next Men’s Twenty20 World Cup, which will be held in the Caribbean and the United States in two years. This will give teams time to improve their play over the course of the following year.
However, according to Babar Azam, the Pakistani authorities will now shift their focus to the forthcoming Test Series against England and New Zealand before making any personnel decisions about the shorter version of the game.
He stated that it was too soon to make a decision.
“After that, we’ll play more tests, and then when the Twenty20 Internationals roll around again, we’ll make a decision.”
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