"If you play at a strike rate of 100, you can't win against any side" - Inzamam-ul-Haq slams Pakistan batters following defeat to New Zealand
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq criticized the national team after a poor batting performance against New Zealand. He opined that playing with a strike rate of 100 or something similar will get Pakistan nowhere in the T20I format.
Pakistan sustained a nine-wicket loss on Tuesday (October 11) in Christchurch as they failed to defend their total of 130. None of the visiting batters could be potent enough, with Iftikhar Ahmed (27) emerging as the biggest contributor.
The home side achieved the target in 16.1 overs as Finn Allen (62) and Devon Conway (49*) added 117 runs for the first wicket.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the 52-year-old stressed the need for batters with healthy strike rates to support Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Inzamam also felt that the Men in Green stood a chance of reaching a competitive score if the batters had shown more intent.
"I said in my previous video as well that we need batters along with Babar and Rizwan, who have higher strike rates. If you play at a strike rate of 100, you can't win against any side. We scored 130, but if we had played fast, we might have been all out at 90.
"However, we should have shown intent because scoring 130 or 90 would have lost us the match. Nevertheless, 170 would've been on the cards if our batters had clicked and might have won."
Pakistan's middle-order has been a concern for quite some time now and has been responsible for their Asia Cup defeat, followed by the T20I series loss to England at home. The two wins in the ongoing tri-nation series also came on the back of half-centuries from Babar and Rizwan.
"I wouldn't say our bowlers bowled badly" - Inzamam-ul-Haq
Despite picking up only one wicket, Inzamam refused to blame the bowling unit as scores aren't easy to defend in New Zealand and instead found the batters at fault for their poor outing. He added:
"I wouldn't say our bowlers bowled badly today because if they only have 130 to defend and I have played in New Zealand, so I know the boundaries and grounds aren't big. So, it's not easy to defend.
"I also came to know that it's the first game in eight years that Pakistan hasn't hit a six and it's weird in a T20 fixture. The only reason is that Babar and Rizwan didn't click, so even the following batters didn't score much. It's troublesome."
New Zealand earn a nine-wicket win over Pakistan.
#NZvPAK | #NZTriSeries https://t.co/lhrunlqDvK
The nine-wicket win was the Black Caps' second victory in the tri-series, having beaten Bangladesh by eight wickets on Sunday. The hosts will face Bangladesh again on Wednesday as they look to seal their place in the final.