T20 World Cup 2024: We did not play well in all three departments – Babar Azam after shocking loss against the USA

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam admitted they didn’t play well in all three departments after their Super Over five-run loss against the USA at the Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas on Thursday. Pakistan posted 159-7 after they were put into bat by America’s skipper Monank Patel.

The Men in Green trudged to 30-3 in the Powerplay overs, losing the crucial wickets of Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan, and Fakhar Zaman. Babar Azam struggled to find his timing in the first six overs whereas the much-needed momentum was given to Pakistan’s innings by Shadab Khan. 

Babar and Khan added 72 runs for the fourth wicket but Pakistan once again veered off the track as they lost wickets in the middle overs. Azam reckons the team’s ability to capitalize on the Powerplay overs and losing regular wickets led to their downfall. 

“To be honest, whenever you lose a game, you are always upset. We did not play well in all three departments,” Babar said after the defeat. “For six overs, I think we did not capitalize properly, but later on, after the 10th over we got momentum, but again we lost too many wickets and then your momentum is gone. So yeah… I think as a batting unit we need to step it up in the middle and in the end.

“The first six overs, the ball was holding and was swinging. 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 10.30 am – 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. It was difficult in the beginning, but we covered it. I think when we lost the wickets back-to-back, that was the turning point. But as a professional, you have to step up against such a team in the batting… in the middle order. This [contitions] is not an excuse…they played well, [but] I think we played badly,” he added.

Babar was also critical of the team’s bowling performance. He feels they should have defended the score given their potent bowling line-up and said that the spinners not taking wickets in the middle overs, contributed to their woes. Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed conceded 37 runs in the four overs they bowled collectively and went wicketless.

“Even in the second innings, I think we also got help [from the wicket], 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 added.

Pakistan will next take on arch-rivals India at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Sunday.