"Not so great decision-making" - Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten laments poor game awareness after IND vs PAK T20 World Cup 2024 match
Pakistan head coach Gary Kirsten lamented his side's poor decision-making under testing times in their T20 World Cup 2024 defeat to India in New York on Sunday, June 9. The 56-year-old believes Pakistan had every chance to win the match, but let it slip in the end.
Chasing a modest 120 for victory, Pakistan made a decent start. However, their middle-order batters failed to step up as the Indian bowlers applied the chokehold to win the game by six runs.
At the post-match presser, Kirsten admitted that poor decision-making at important phases came back to haunt Pakistan while praising Mohammad Rizwan (31 off 44) for taking his time in the middle.
"Maybe not so great decision making. You have got the game on, run a ball, eight wickets in hand, decision-making at that point. That's the game. That's international cricket for you. If you make mistakes like that, you are going to pay. I thought we made some poor decisions at important phases of the game. I thought Rizwan played well for us. We knew it was going to be a tough wicket to bat on. We managed the chase very well but then just let it slip in the end," the South African was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Pakistan held a win predictor of 92 percent when Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman were going strong. But India's sustained pressure ensured that the Men in Green made costly mistakes and ended up losing the match.
"We accept the loss and we take the heat" - Gary Kirsten
Kirsten added that he will take time to get the best out of the Pakistani players, given he's been here only for 11 days.
"Everyone's responsible. We accept the loss and we take the heat because the team has not done well. And we will do what we can to try and rectify it. I have been here for 12 days so it is a new journey for me understanding the players that are going to win games for Pakistan, which is what you are looking for," he added.
Pakistan will need to win their remaining two group-stage matches and hope for the USA to lose to both Ireland and India to qualify for the Super 8 stage.