"You have to agree that our captain is young and in the end couldn't remain composed" - Shoaib Akhtar following Pakistan's loss against Australia in the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final
Former Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar has acknowledged that Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is still in his early days of captaincy. He opined that Babar didn't remain collected during the loss against Australia in the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final.
The 46-year-old also praised the Aussie side for using their maturity, experience and calmness to skim past a formidable Pakistani side yesterday.
Australia were reduced to 96-5 while chasing 177 runs and required 81 runs in the last 46 deliveries. The two mighty Australian batters in Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade remained composed.
The duo kept the scoreboard ticking against the spinners and smothered the pacers as soon as they came into the attack. They combined to produce a spectacular stand of 81 in just 40 balls to seal one of the team's most hard-fought victories.
Shoaib Akhtar, while reviewing the tightly-contested semi-final encounter, posted a video on his official YouTube channel. You can watch his video below:
Shoaib Akhtar expressed that Pakistan wasn't scared but panicked against the Aussie unit.
Akhtar said:
"You have to agree here that our (Pakistan) captain is young and new and in the end could not keep composed. On the other hand, Australia is a mature team and there they used their experience, culture, base to remain composed and did not get scared. Pakistan team, though, did not get scared but panicked."
Akhtar also divulged his fear that his side may never get another such easy and clearer chance to lift the T20 silverware. The former cricketer-turned-expert also lamented that Pakistan should've won this World Cup. Akhar reflected:
"He (Babar Azam) is a new captain and I understand that but winning 5 out of 6 games, I thought this was Pakistan's World Cup to win. This could have been won. We might not get such an easy chance ever again. We tried our best but the best was not good enough for yesterday. The better team won."
The Babar Azam-led side was in red-hot form prior to the semi-finals. They were the only team in the competition to remain unbeaten throughout the Super 12 fixtures of the tournament.
Fakhar played brilliantly but was stuck in the middle overs and couldn't rotate strike: Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar, who has 444 international wickets to his name, also had his say on a surging knock from Pakistani left-hander Fakhar Zaman. After operating at 17 from 17 at one stage, Fakhar then just went bonkers to reach his 50 in just 31 deliveries.
While praising the left-hander's efforts against Australia, Akhtar remained critical of Zaman's approach in the middle overs. Akhtar opined that the 31-year-old couldn't rotate the strike in the middle phase of the game. He also believes that Pakistan fell 20-25 runs short and should've scored 200 runs in the first innings. Akhtar said:
"Fakhar Zaman is a good player and he played brilliantly against Australia but he does not rotate the strike in the middle overs. He remained stuck for 3-4 overs and was unable to rotate the strike. I think we should have scored 200 runs. Overall, Pakistan has done wonderfully well but I personally think that it could've been better."
Australia's win against Pakistan meant that the former will meet their neighboring rivals New Zealand for the ultimate T20 World Cup 2021 Final. The match will be played at the Dubai International Stadium on November 14 (Sunday)