"It shows you do not have enough power-hitters" - Parthiv Patel on Pakistan's Super Over batters after T20 World Cup defeat to the USA
Former Indian wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel claimed that Pakistan do not have enough power-hitters as per the demands of modern-day T20 cricket. He put forward the point after Babar Azam and company suffered a shock defeat (via Super Over) at the hands of the USA in the T20 World Cup on Thursday, June 6.
Patel shed light on how Pakistan had leg-spinner Shadab Khan as their third batter in the Super Over, claiming that the lack of power-hitters was costing the Men in Green dearly. He reckons that makes the margin of error even smaller for their star-studded bowling line-up.
Parthiv Patel told Cricbuzz after the game:
"When Shadab Khan is one of your three batters in the Super Over, it shows you do not have enough power-hitters. It is crucial in T20s, especially when you get to a Super Over. There is no doubt Pakistan do not have that kind of a batting line-up. When they score 160-170, it becomes even more crucial for their bowling to step up."
Once Pakistan had just 159 on the board, Patel was certain that their bowlers would need to put in a special effort to stop the USA, who had chased down 195 comfortably at the same venue in their previous game against Canada.
Parthiv Patel on USA's chase
Parthiv Patel was highly impressed with the way the USA managed their chase. He spoke about how Monank Patel and company picked the right moments to put the pressure back on Pakistan and kept on rotating the strike to ensure they took the game deep.
"It just never looked like the game was going away from the USA. The required run rate showed that they were always in control of the chase. They understood the game really well and attacked the right bowlers like Iftikhar and Shadab. Pakistan will need to find a way of adding those extra runs with the bat and getting their bowling to do better under pressure," Patel said in the same interaction.
USA captain Monank Patel said after the game that his team should have polished off the chase inside 20 overs.
The co-hosts now sit pretty at the top of Group A with four points from two games and now have a genuine shot at making it to the Super 8 phase.