Imad Wasim, the Pakistan all-rounder, has said that he’ll forever regret not taking the team past the finish line against India in the recent T20 World Cup 2024 match.
Imad Wasim came out of retirement to participate in Pakistan's T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, but after failing to advance to the Super phase of the competition, losing to the USA and then to Pakistan, the 2022 finalists are forced to battle for pride against Ireland in their final league game in Florida.
Imad Wasim was at the crease when Pakistan was within touching distance of India’s 119 runs. However, despite needing run-a-ball till the 15th over, Pakistan could not cross the line, with Wasim, famed for his calm demeanor under pressure, scoring only 15 runs off 23 balls as Indian bowlers suffocated Pakistan batsmen. Pakistan eventually fell short of 6 runs, despite having three wickets remaining.
Wasim admitted that he wanted to take the game deep, and that was his plan; however, he failed to execute it, which he will regret.
“I let down because usually when I go in this situation, I am very calm and finish the job. And this was my job to finish which I couldn’t do. I will regret this and I still regret it. But this is life. Sometimes you make mistakes. But life is like that, sometimes you make mistakes. So, you can say that this was a phase in my life that I unfortunately could not achieve. I will regret it, but my execution was not good,” said Wasim in a press conference ahead of the Ireland game.
“The game plan was to take the ball deep. The wicket was not good to play. It was a little difficult. Unfortunately, my plan was going according to plan but not execution. Usually, when I bat, I take the ball deep. And if I hit any boundary on either end, the game would have been different. Having said that, he did very well in bowling and he did it on the spot. He didn’t bowl too badly,” he added.
At one time, Pakistan needed only 48 runs in 48 balls with 8 wickets in hand and had Mohammad Rizwan set at the crease.
Wasim played three dots in the 16th over bowled by Akshar Patel, which went for only two runs, and the next over, bowled by Hardik Pandya, went for five runs, and Pakistan lost Shadab Khan. Wasim stated that this was the part of the chase in which he believed more runs should have been scored.
“Usually, under pressure, bowlers give you a ball and there is a margin. But I think I was taking the game deep and I was hoping that a new batsman would come and for that, it is virtually impossible. But Naseem hit two good shots. That 17th over, I think, I feel that the move of the runs in that over was a turning point. Unfortunately, it happens, it’s an incident but it was a big game. Our team and I are more disappointed than you are,” he went on to add.
(PTI inputs)
