Captain Babar Azam claimed that Pakistan tends to underestimate less experienced teams at key competitions, adding that his team’s performance in Thursday’s startling Twenty20 World Cup loss to the United States was way below par.
In one of the biggest upsets in Twenty20 World Cup history, the US defeated Pakistan in a Super Over in Dallas to win their second game of the competition.
Pakistan has lost to lower-ranked opponents in important tournaments before; in the 2022 T20 World Cup, they lost to Zimbabwe, and in the 50-overs World Cup, they lost to Afghanistan. Pakistan was the 2009 champions.
After the loss, Babar told reporters, “Whenever you come into any tournament, you always do the best preparation.” However, you might argue that it’s more of a mindset; you let up a little while playing a team like them. You approach things a bit casually.
“Any team you don’t execute your plan against will win because they will be the one to beat you. In my opinion, our execution falls short of expectations. While we are performing well in preparation, as a team we are not carrying out our plans during the match.
Babar also bemoaned his team’s inability to capture wickets in the earlier part of the US innings, citing Mohank Patel and Andries Gous’ early 68-run partnership as crucial to the host country’s chase.
Babar remarked, “We are not playing well in any of the three departments.” “Our bowling is superior than that; we aren’t picking up wickets in the first six overs. We are under pressure if your spinner fails to take wickets in the middle overs.
“However, I think the US team deserves credit for the way they ended the game in the super overs.”
Pakistan will next play their fiercest rivals, India, in a major match on Sunday in New York.
