Pakistan suffered a heartbreaking five-wicket defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India in their Asia Cup 2022 opener at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (August 28).
Invited to bat first, Pakistan were bowled out for 147 in 19.5 overs and then the Men in Blue chased down the target with two balls to spare.
After the game, former speedster Shoaib Akhtar questioned Pakistan’s batting approach in the shortest format.
Highlighting the number of dot balls in the powerplay overs, Akhtar said skipper Babar Azam should be coming in at the No. 3 spot instead of opening the innings.
"If Rizwan will play run-a-ball then obviously what will happen? 19 dot balls in the first 6 overs. If you will play so many dot balls then you will face problems," Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.
"It was bad selection by both captains. Both tried to pick wrong teams. They (India) dropped Rishabh Pant and we (Pakistan) added Iftikhar Ahmed at number four. No disrespect to Iftikhar or anybody but I have said this multiple times… Babar Azam shouldn't open. Instead, he should come one down and anchor the innings till the end," he added.
Mohammad Rizwan was the top scorer for Pakistan with 42-ball 43 while Shahnawaz Dahani (16 off 6) and Haris Rauf (13* off 7) chipped in with handy contributions in the death overs.
For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-26) and Hardik Pandya (3-25) were the wrecker-in-chief with the ball, sharing even wickets between them. Young pacer Arshdeep Singh (2-33) also returned with a couple of scalps while Avesh Khan (1-19) managed to claim a wicket.
Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt also slammed Babar and company for struggling against Pandya, who used short deliveries to good effect.
“See, Pakistan opted for Khushdil Shah, who can also bowl a bit, but his shortcomings on bouncy tracks are pretty evident. And Pakistan lost all of their first five wickets to bouncers. The same is the case from 2019. They faced issues on the tour of New Zealand in 2019, then they faced the same problem in Australia," said Butt in an interview with GNN.
“Even in the 2019 World Cup, West Indies dismissed Pakistan batters through bouncers. The problem has been persisting since Mickey Arthur’s stint with the team. It seems Pakistan are still trying to find answers to facing short balls.
“The T20 World Cup is in Australia, where the grounds are big and pitches are fast. So it’s necessary for Pakistan batters to start their preparations of facing short balls," he added.
