Sunday has not turned out to be great for Pakistan as the dreams of winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 final trophy shattered against England.
They put up a slow start to the inning and eventually could amass only 137 on the scorecard. Although the bowlers were truly in action while defending, England came to lift the trophy, sparing an over.
Let’s eye on some mistakes Babar Azam and co made throughout the match and some mishaps they came across.
Shaheen Shah Afridi’s injury:
Shaheen Shah Afridi’s knee injury, indeed was the match-turning point for the men in green. While taking a splendid catch of Harry Brookes, he fell on his knee. Shaheen had already not been fully fine until he sustained a knee injury during Galle Test. Although he went through a rehabilitation process, knee injuries are not a piece of cake to heal in a short span.
It has now gotten further worsen after the Pak vs Eng final incident. Shaheen could not deliver his third over as he fell on the very first ball. The rest of the balls were delivered by Iftikhar Ahmed. Not only the cricket expert but also the former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar believes that Shaheen’s injury was match-changing for Pakistan.
Not playing Mohammad Nawaz:
Nawaz, who was termed match-winner by the Babar Azam in the dressing room after Pak vs Zim encounter, was not given even an over to deliver. The experts examine that it was because there were two left-handed batters on the crease, and introducing an off-spinner would have been costly.
Nevertheless, rotating bowlers to fix Nawaz somewhere in between would have been an ideal option. He has been proving his pivotal roles in both depart, batting and bowling. Furthermore, sending him in place of Shadab Khan to bat would have been elemental for the green’s batting line-up.
On several occasions, Nawaz has proved his worth at the top order. Had he been there in the final showdown, the score might have reached 160s easily. Notably, Pakistani batsmen could only gather 137 from 120 balls. The experts and the fans opine if the target was a bit more, it could have been hard for England to chase.
It is relevant to mention here that Jos Buttler and co won by five wickets and spared barely an over. At a point, it was becoming challenging for them to chase. However, some misfields in the dead overs allowing the ball to cross boundaries indeed became the basis for why Pakistan failed to lift the trophy after 15 years.
Expensive powerplay:
Although Babar Azam’s bowlers managed three crucial wickets in the powerplay, they failed to stop the run flow. England were already 49 despite the fact that green bowlers targeted their batters. With not so many runs left to chase, they reached the feat, obviously, with obstacles in their way.
In cricket, a defending team is not only required to pick wickets but also stop the flow of runs. Furthermore, Pakistan could strike with only two more wickets in the remaining overs after the powerplay. Letting Ben Stokes do his duty freely was another misfortune that happened to the men in green.
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