"Losing against India is more disappointing than a defeat against the USA" - Azhar Mahmood ahead of PAK vs CAN T20 World Cup 2024 match
Pakistan's assistant coach Azhar Mahmood has asserted that the defeat to India was more demoralizing than losing to the USA in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. The ex-all-rounder went on to admit that the players' morale is significantly down after losing a winnable game against India.
Led by Babar Azam, the Men in Green delivered a sensational bowling performance to bowl India out for 119 in 19 overs. With the bat, Pakistan were in the game for most of the innings, but piled up a considerable number of dot balls in the middle overs, leaving themselves with too much to do in the end. The 2009 World T20 champions eventually fell short by six runs.
Speaking at a a press conference, Mahmood said the confidence is down in the camp, but insisted that they would keep their hopes up until the end. As quoted by cricketpakistan.com.pk, he said:
"After two defeats, everyone is quite disheartened. Losing against India is more disappointing than a defeat against the USA. At the moment, everyone's morale in the team is down, it's necessary to lift it as we can still bounce back and we won't lose hope until it's over."
Not only do Pakistan have to defeat Canada and Ireland by good margins, they must also hope for either the USA or India to lose their remaining matches.
"We lost as a team and can't blame individuals" - Azhar Mahmood
At the same presser, Mahmood claimed that the responsibility of the defeat lies with both the players and the management and underlined the need to develop confidence in their match-winning abilities. He added:
"Our shot selection wasn't right, which led to a run rate of 10. We were playing well until the 15th over. We lost as a team and can't blame individuals. The responsibility of failure lies with the entire management, we all have made mistakes. If a player starts doubting their ability, it becomes very difficult. If we play with confidence in ourselves, it will prove everyone wrong."
Tuesday's match between Pakistan and Canada will also be played in New York.