3 lessons Pakistan can learn from India after massive defeat in 2023 World Cup
Pakistan were dealt a huge blow to their 2023 World Cup ambitions on Saturday, October 14, when they were beaten by India. The host country raced to the target set by the Men in Green with almost 20 overs and seven wickets to spare. This has resulted in a negative net run-rate for Babar Azam's side.
Not only was this loss detrimental to Pakistan's World Cup ambitions, but it will also have a huge mental impact as they were dominated by their arch-rivals. It is important for the senior members of the squad to not let any shoulders drop in the dressing room.
Their next match is against Australia, who have lost both their matches so far, on October 20. This match will be extremely crucial for both sides, as it will be a momentum changer as far as the race to a semi-final berth is concerned.
Pakistan would have gained a lot of valuable experience from their loss against their arch-rivals. Here are three lessons Pakistan can learn from India after their massive defeat in the 2023 World Cup.
#1 To avoid a batting collapse
Pakistan were in a strong position at 155/2 after 29.3 overs, with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan both batting well. However, after Mohammed Siraj dismissed Azam, the rest of the batters failed to make a meaningful contribution. The side were all out for 191.
India have had their fair share of batting collapses in the past, but their middle order is now better equipped to deal with such situations. They were on the backfoot against Australia after being reduced to 2/3 after 2 overs. However, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul steadied the ship and ensured that there would be no batting collapse.
#2 Pakistan players need to learn how to handle big-game pressure
The Pakistani side that played against India is still fairly young, with an average age of around 28 years. Meanwhile, the lineup of the Men in Blue had an average age in excess of 30. The skill of handling the pressure of such an atmosphere comes with age and experience.
Players like Abdullah Shafique and Saud Shakeel have never faced India in front of such a big crowd. The best performers for the losing side on the day, Azam, Rizwan, and Shaheen Afridi, are some of the more experienced players of the side, and it showed.
#3 To make more dynamic captaincy decisions like India's Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma was wrongly criticized by Shoaib Akhtar for choosing to field first on what looked like a good batting track. The Indian captain then made a couple of excellent captaincy decisions. He persisted with Siraj after a poor starting spell, which yielded the wicket of Azam, and he brought back Jasprit Bumrah at the perfect time to get rid of Rizwan.
On the other hand, the Babar's captaincy left a lot to be desired. He looked helpless when Sharma was taking the attack to the opposition bowlers. By the time the right-handed batter was dismissed, the score and run rate were already too high for Pakistan to mount a comeback.