Dallas: Legendary pacer Wasim Akram criticized the Pakistan cricket team for their "pathetic performance" in the T20 World Cup 2024, particularly their defeat against the USA in a Super Over. He also expressed concern that it will be tough for Babar Azam's side to progress to the tournament's knockouts.
Pakistan and the USA had scored 159 each in the regulation time before Saurabh Netravalkar showed his composure and successfully defended 18 runs in the Super Over for the co-hosts to register a famous victory here on Thursday. Notably, this was the first loss for Pakistan against any non-full member nation of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"Pathetic performance. Winning and losing is a part of the game. But you need to fight till the last ball. It was bad for Pakistan cricket," Akram told Star Sports. "Pakistan will struggle from here onwards to qualify for the Super Eight because they have to play India (on June 9) and two more good teams (Ireland and Canada)," he added.
The key player in Pakistan's 1992 World Cup victory believed that the game's turning point was when the USA took early wickets. Pakistan struggled to score, reaching only 30 runs for three wickets at the end of the Power Play. Even though the captain, Babar, and Shadab Khan added 72 runs for the fourth wicket, Pakistan had difficulty gaining momentum from that point on. However, Babar had managed to collect only four runs off 14 balls he faced in the powerplay, which resulted in Pakistan's fifth-lowest team total in Powerplay overs.
"The turning point of the game...the way USA got early wickets. Pakistan had a little partnership between Babar and Shadab and then nobody turned up. The fielding was below average, the overall cricket by Pakistan was average," he said.
Akram, a master of death bowling in his playing days, said conceding 18 runs in the Super Over dashed Pakistan's hopes. "While playing against the USA, I was confident, every Pakistan supporter was confident that they would win after the way they played in the first innings. In the second innings, they (USA) came out to chase...I mean getting 19 runs in the Super Over is like getting 36 runs in a Super Over. Well done USA," he said.
Akram heaped praise on USA captain Monank Patel for marshalling his bowling resources and making a match-winning fifty. "The moment of the day for me was the innings of USA captain Monank Patel, the way he batted...carried his bat. The way he used his suit as in he led from the front. Their fielding was spot-on every time, and very impressive cricket from the USA," he concluded.
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