Shoaib Akhtar Fumes After Pakistan’s Shock Defeat In T20 World Cup
Legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar expressed his disappointment after Pakistan were stunned by Zimbabwe in their T20 World Cup 2022 Group 2 match in Perth.
Legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar expressed his disappointment after Pakistan were stunned by Zimbabwe in their T20 World Cup Group 2 match at the Optus Stadium in Perth. After electing to bat first, Zimbabwe could only post a total of 130/8 as Mohammad Wasim Jr bagged four wickets on his return in the playing XI. However, in reply, Pakistan fell short by runs, courtesy of Brad Evans’ gutsy final over.
While analysing the match, Akhtar lashed out at the team’s tactics, even suggesting that Babar Azam is a bad captain.
I don’t know why is it so hard for you guys to understand. I have said this before, and I am saying it again that with our top and middle-order, we can achieve big success. We can’t win consistently. Pakistan have a bad captain. Pakistan are out of the World Cup.
Nawaz has bowled the last over in the three games we have lost,” Akhtar said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.
Akhtar also highlighted the areas where Pakistan need to alter things, including Babar’s batting order.
“Babar should bat one down. Major flaw in Shaheen Shah Afridi’s fitness. Major flaw in the captaincy, and major flaws in the management. We will back you but what brand of cricket are you playing? You can’t just walk into a tournament and expect that the opposition will let you win,” he added.
Pakistan will take on Netherlands in their next Super 12 fixture on Sunday. However, a defeat could end their T20 World Cup campaign.
Suryakumar Yadav has received big praise from veteran Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik. Surya has been one of India’s finest batters in T20 cricket over the last year or so.
Since making his debut for India last, Suryakumar Yadav’s stocks have risen dramatically. In T20 cricket, the middle-order batter is being seen by many as the “finest batter in the world” when it comes to the shortest format.
It isn’t just in India that Surya has earned praise from fans but from across the border as well. Even veteran Pakistani cricketer, Shoaib Malik, praised Surya for the variety of shots he hits and how he plays with the brain of the mind of the bowler bowling to him.
Speaking on A Sports, Pakistan cricket greats lke Shoaib Malik and Wasim Akram discussed how Suryakumar uses pace and bounce from the bowler to execute scoop and lap shots to perfection.
“The shot he plays, where he hits behind…his technique is so good that even if he doesn’t get that elevation, he still manages to execute the shot),” he said.
“SKY is something different, isn’t he? These are the kind of shots youngsters should learn),”Wasim Akram said and Malik responded saying: “Absolutely they can learn if they are willing to. They have to have a goal to achieve something. They also have to put in the hard work to do so.
He plays with the bowler’s mind as well, contemplating if he scores on short balls, maybe the bowler will bowl fuller. It is very important for middle-order batters to play with the mind of the bowlers,” Malik further added.
Malik expected Surya to have a tough outing in Perth but the 32-year-old excelled with the bat, scoring 68 runs off 40 balls to help the Indian team put 133 runs on the board. South Africa, however, chased down the target, with Aiden Markram and David Miller scoring half-centuries.
2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in Australia from 16 October to 13 November 2022. Originally, the tournament was to be held in 2020, however, in July 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that the tournament had been postponed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August 2020, the ICC also confirmed that Australia would host the rearranged tournament in 2022, with the T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in India in 2021 as originally planned, but was later moved to UAE and Oman. On 21 January 2022, the ICC confirmed all the fixtures for the tournament. Hosts Australia are also the defending champions.
The twelve teams that reached the Super 12 phase of the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup automatically qualified for the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa all qualified directly for the Super 12 phase of this tournament, based on their performances in the 2021 tournament and their rankings as of 15 November 2021.Namibia, Scotland, Sri Lanka and the West Indies were all placed in the group stage of the competition.
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