IND vs PAK 2022: "Rizwan should understand that scoring 43 off 42 balls is not acceptable at all" - Shoaib Akhtar criticizes Pakistan's conservative batting approach
Former pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar failed to understand Pakistan's approach with the bat during their five-wicket defeat against India in the Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai on Sunday. The Men In Green never seemed to accelerate over the course of their innings and posted a below-par total of 147 in their 20 overs.
The problems began right from the start for Pakistan as the Indian new-ball bowlers managed to control the opening proceedings with some tight bowling.
Things took a turn for the worse as they lost two wickets in the powerplay. Despite being settled at one end, Mohammad Rizwan failed to ramp up the scoring rate and ended with a strike rate of just over 100.
A slow innings from Rizwan! Pakistan in trouble!
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Claiming that both teams employed a tame approach when it came to their batting, Akhtar said on his YouTube channel:
"Rizwan should understand that scoring 43 off 42 balls is not acceptable at all. Virat Kohli also played a similar innings. Pakistan messed up their batting order as well and so did India."
"Pakistan sent Ifthikar at No.4 while India sent Jadeja. India have batters like Suryakumar and Pant. Pakistan sent Shadab Khan over Asif Ali, I cannot understand that as well," Akhtar added.
Rizwan scored an unbeaten 79 off 55 deliveries at the same venue during Pakistan's previous meeting against India at the 2021 T20 World Cup. However, he failed to get going on Sunday, which put his side on the backfoot.
"It was overall a bad game of cricket, both teams were really poor" - Shoaib Akhtar
India nearly made a mess of their run chase, with wickets falling at regular intervals. It took a composed effort from Ravindra Jadeja and a whirlwind finish from Hardik Pandya to get the team across the line.
From @hardikpandya7's emotional Asia Cup journey to @imjadeja's solid batting display! 👍 👍
The all-rounder duo chat up after #TeamIndia win their #AsiaCup2022 opener against Pakistan - by @ameyatilak
Full interview 🎥 🔽
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Noting that both sides played poor cricket, Akhtar said:
"Pakistan did not calculate Nawaz' final over. He had to bowl the final over, instead, his quota should have been finished by the 17th over. Had he even conceded 10 runs, it would not have been a problem. It was overall a bad game of cricket, both teams were really poor."
The Men in Green had two overs of Haris Rauf, one over each of Naseem Shah and Mohammad Nawaz heading into the death overs. Babar Azam delayed the re-introduction of the left-arm spinner, hoping that the pacers would pick up a wicket. However, with no options left, Nawaz bowled the final over but failed to defend seven runs.
Where did Pakistan go wrong in the defeat against India? Let us know what you think.