Babar Azam was seen ignoring Mohammad Amir’s suggestion during the Pakistan v USA T20 World Cup 2024 match in Dallas, Texas on June 6. Amir was asking Babar to continue with the pacers, but the Pakistan captain did his own thing.
After defeating Canada in their first encounter in the T20 World Cup, the USA leveled Pakistan’s score under pressure in the final over before scoring 18 runs in the Super Over while hitting no sixes.
Mohammed Amir, who battled against left-handed Harmeet, bowled three wides and seven extras in that over. In response, Pakistan scored only 13 runs for the loss of one wicket, leaving their T20 World Cup campaign hanging in the balance.
Now in a viral video, Babar Azam can be seen ignoring Mohammad Amir asking him to continue with the pacers as the batter was comfortable with spin. However, Babar ignored the pleas and brought on Shadab Khan, who went for 11 runs.
Muhammad Amir asked Babar to continue with fast bowlers because the batter playing well against the spin but Babar opted to go with spinner and shadab give away 11 crucial Runs pic.twitter.com/UDX0cwZyQ3
— ٰImran Siddique (@imransiddique89) June 7, 2024
Our bowlers were not up to the mark: Babar Azam
Pakistan captain Babar Azam believed the total of 159 for seven was defendable against co-hosts the United States, and that their unexpected loss at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday was due to their bowling unit not performing to their full potential.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Babar stated that even though the Dallas track provided plenty of opportunities for bowlers in the first six overs, Pakistan’s new-ball attack failed to capitalize, unlike the USA, who took three wickets in the powerplay.
“Today’s wicket had help for the fast bowlers in the first six overs. But later on, I didn’t feel it was a different wicket. It settled down a bit. Because of the early start – the matches are starting at 10.30am – the fast bowlers will obviously get a little help. There was some juice in the pitch early morning. So they utilised that and executed their plan.
Even in the second innings, I think we also got help, but we were not up to the mark in terms of our bowling areas. We lacked in that in the first ten overs. We came back after that but they had already taken the momentum. But given the bowlers we have, we should have defended that total. On this pitch, I think it was a defendable total for our bowling.
We are better than that in the bowling. We did not take wickets in the first six overs. In the middle overs, if your spinner is not taking wickets, then the pressure is on you. After ten overs, we did come back but I think the way they finished game in the Super Over, the credit goes to the US team,” Babar said in post-match presentation.
Pakistan will next play India on Sunday in New York.