The runners-up from the last season in 2022 of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Pakistan will begin their journey in this ongoing edition of the competition against co-host United States of America on June 06, at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.
The Babar Azam-led side is coming into this tournament, on the back of their 2-0 away series defeat against England during the four-match T20I series, as two of the other games got washout out due to persistent rain.
In the last game of the series at the Kennington Oval in London, Pakistan struggled in their batting and bowling department, as they could smash on 157, losing all the ten wickets, in one ball short of their allotted 20-overs, while none of the batters could reach the 40-run individual mark. England, with seven wickets in hand, blew away the target with more than four overs to spare.
Yasir Arafat points skill, fitness and captaincy behind Pakistan’s struggle
Former Pakistan all-rounder Yasir Arafat made an attack on the national team, after their dismal show against England, coming into the T20 World Cup 2024. The Green Brigade are still missing a little it of fire-power in their batting.
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The veteran’s criticism came with the growing frustration among the fans regarding Pakistan’s poor outing in the build-up to the world event, as they decided not to take part in any warm-up games, leading up to the competition.
‘I was at The Oval, and it was a professional England team against an amateur team. Those in the crowd were also criticizing the performance of the Pakistan team there,” Reckoned Yasir Arafat during a cha with the journalist Saj Sadiq.
The champions of the 2009-edition of the competition started in a brilliant fashion with 59-run opening partnership in the powerplay. But then suddenly the wheels began to come off. In the next 26 balls, Pakistan could manage only 27-runs for the lose of four wickets.
The way few of their batters got out showed the lack of confidence in their abilities, while a few had no answer to the host’s aggressive bowling.
The retired all-rounder spoke about how the team played like a non-professional side, and given their morale would be down, the question would be if they could get back from this position.
‘The kind of cricket they played was non-professional. The world has moved ahead, but Pakistan seems to be falling behind in many factors- skill, fitness, and even captaincy. The morale will be down, and it remains to be seen how they get back up from here,” Arafat, who was part of the opening season of the tournament history where they lost the final to India, elaborated
The team needs a perfect turn-around in their execution of plans, and overall performances, along with the strategies, if they want to lift their second T20 World Cup trophy. But at the moment, they are lacking in many aspects.
However, the national team’s captain Babar Azam feels that despite the defeat against England in that T20I series, the troop will make a significant difference in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
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‘I am happy and excited because when you go to play in a major event, you have a different excitement,” Babar touched on the team’s preparations for the event.
‘It’s the aim of any cricketer to play in a World Cup so that kind of feeling is coming over me. The hope is always to lift the trophy, but for that to happen, we have to play top cricket against every side,” Pakistan skipper told to Pakistan cricket. ‘
Pakistan will face arch-rival India on June 09, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in New York.