"Pakistan do not believe they can beat India" - Michael Vaughan blasts Babar Azam and co. after IND vs PAK T20 World Cup match
Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels Pakistan have lost the belief that they can turn up and beat India. The Men in Green had yet another embarrassing defeat at the T20 World Cup 2024 as they failed to chase down a modest target of 120, ending up with 113/7.
There has been a lot of talk about how tough the pitch is in New York for the batters and Vaughan understands that the two-paced nature of the pitch was difficult to handle. However, he felt Pakistan got better batting conditions than India and he couldn't fathom them not chasing down 120.
Speaking on the Club Prairie Fire Podcast, here's what Michael Vaughan had to say about the game:
"Pakistan just cannot beat India. They are chasing 120. It was an iffy pitch. Probably it did more when India were batting. It was a more of a sticky-stoppy motion when India were batting. When Pakistan were batting, actually the pitch played okay and they still couldn't get 120. My fundamental summary is Pakistan do not believe they can beat India."
India continued their dominance over Pakistan in T20 World Cups and have now won seven out of the eight face-offs the two countries have had in the history of the showpiece event.
Michael Vaughan takes a dig at Pakistan's leadership situation
In the same podcast, former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist shed light on how some former Pakistan cricketers have claimed that the team hasn't been united under the captaincy of Babar Azam. The star batter was recently reinstated as the captain of the white-ball teams after Shaheen Afridi was sacked as the T20I skipper.
On this, here's what Michael Vaughan had to say in his own tongue-in-cheek fashion:
"I think they need to go back to Shaheen (as captain). Clearly, they are a better team when they're juggling the captaincy around a bit. If there was ever a team in the history of cricket to do that kind of a thing (sacking captain) mid-match, Pakistan are favorites to deliver that kind of sacking."
Pakistan will now face Canada in their next game on Tuesday, June 11, and will have to beat them to stay in the race to qualify for the Super Eights stage.