"You have to bring your A-game" - Eoin Morgan rues Pakistan's mistakes in 2023 World Cup game against India
Former England captain Eoin Morgan believes Pakistan made too many mistakes that led to their defeat in the 2023 World Cup clash against India in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14. The World Cup-winning skipper cited the example of a boxing match, stating that one cannot afford to have a bad round and can only have some blows.
Pakistan lost the game in the first innings as they managed to score just 191 runs and lasted only 42.5 overs. The tourists had only one solid partnership, with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan adding 82 runs after the openers departed.
However, after Babar's departure, Pakistan suffered a stunning collapse, going from 155/2 to 191 all out.
Speaking to Sky Sports, here's what Morgan claimed:
"When you want to beat the best sides in the world are in this tournament, you have to bring your A-game. So I got a boxing match. You can't have a bad round. You can have a bad blow here and there. But it can't be consecutive with lots of wickets or clusters of wickets."
Pakistan's much-vaunted bowling attack couldn't make a difference either. Despite Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissing Shubman Gill after an early flurry of boundaries, the Men in Blue continued to score runs at will. Rohit Sharma led the way with his 63-ball 86.
"We did see it in the first game here in New Zealand against England" - Eoin Morgan
The Irishman recalled how England also failed to hit the knockout blow against New Zealand at the same venue in the opening fixture and felt the same happened to Pakistan. Morgan added:
"And we did see it in the first game here in New Zealand against England, where England was starting to get away and throwing the odd punch here and there but couldn't quite land up blow, which is a substantial partnership that would take them up to a winning par score. I think Pakistan made those mistakes."
With the massive seven-wicket win, India moved to the top of the table. Pakistan, on the other hand, still have a chance of reaching the semifinals, having lost only one game out of three.