T20 World Cup 2022: "The whole world knows how we advanced to the final" - Mohammad Amir after Pakistan's loss to England
Former Pakistan speedster Mohammad Amir reckons reaching the T20 World Cup final was an achievement, as the team didn't deserve to be there in the first place. Amir also said that he knew the Pakistan batters would struggle once they moved out of Sydney.
Pakistan's batting line-up struggled to put on a match-winning total against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday. Shan Masood top-scored with 38 off 32 as the Men in Green managed only 137. Their bowlers fought, but England won by five wickets.
Congratulations @ECB_cricket. You are worthy champions.
Enjoy and celebrate this moment, and we look forward to hosting you in December for the three-Test series.
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Speaking to 24 News, Amir said that Pakistan didn't reach the final due to their own performance and wasn't surprised to see their batters struggle.
"The fact that we played in the final is a big thing. We didn’t deserve to play in the final. The whole world knows how we advanced to the final. Allah helped us reach there. You will get to know the results if you look at the performance of our batters."
He added:
"Once we got out of Sydney, it was given that this would happen. I told you earlier that if the pitch at MCG is the same as it was in the first match, Pakistan will struggle, and we did. After winning the toss, we got off to a good start, and we knew how the conditions were."
Pakistan had a topsy-turvy World Cup campaign, starting with defeats against India and Zimbabwe.
They beat the Netherlands and South Africa convincingly but still faced a steep road to the semifinals. With the Dutch upsetting South Africa, Pakistan beat Bangladesh to progress to the knockouts, where they overcame New Zealand in the last four.
"Along with intent, you also need to have sense" - Mohammad Amir unimpressed with Mohammad Haris
Mohammad Amir also slammed Mohammad Haris for trying to hit Adil Rashid over the top early in his innings. The former bowler added that new batters struggle to adapt on the track. Amir said while lauding Ben Stokes for a match-winning innings:
"We talked about Haris and his intent. But along with intent, you also need to have sense. On the first ball, he faced off Adil Rashid, he tried to come down the track. On these pitches, you can’t leave it to someone else. The new batter will struggle. Ben Stokes showed that experience and game awareness."
England lost three wickets in the powerplay, but Stokes took the game deep. The left-hander stayed unbeaten on 52 off 49, hitting the winning runs with an over to go.