Former England player Michael Vaughan has said that Pakistan will give a tough fight to the team that will take on them in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2021. And, he believes England might not want to face them as well. He said that because Pakistan registered three consecutive wins in three games and their last win came against Afghanistan in Dubai on Friday.
While speaking about that, Vaughan said during a discussion on Cricbuzz: “Tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) England vs Australia game is a monster. Whoever wins is going to finish top. I am sure Pakistan are going to finish top in their group. I would not want to face Pakistan in the semi-final. I’ll be more than happy to play in the other semi-final and hope someone knocks them (Pakistan) out. We are a long way off from the final but they seem to have everything.”
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“In this Pakistan team, you have that opening combination (Azam and Rizwan), you have got that experience in the middle with Hafeez and Malik. Now, you have got finishers, and with their bowling combination, they look a terrific side,” Michael Vaughan again added.
He expressed that the way Pakistan has been playing shows their capabilities. They required 24 to win off the final two overs when Asif Ali smashed four sixes off Karim Janat in the penultimate over and took the team home.
“To get over the line in the fashion that they ended up doing, it sends quite a strong message. They were pushed into a corner by Afghanistan and they came out with a fantastic victory because of a team contribution. It’s concerning for all other teams in the competition,” he explained.
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On the other hand, Michael Vaughan was quite impressed with Afghanistan’s performance and he also backed their decision of holding back Rashid Khan. Notably, Afghanistan was reduced to 76 for 6 but they eventually bounced back and put up 147 for 6. Then they put Pakistan under pressure at 124 for 5 before Asif Ali took the team to the finish line.
“Afghanistan had the perfect tactic. They wanted to get that rate at something around 8, throw the ball to Rashid Khan and cause a bit of chaos. It nearly came off for Afghanistan. They put up a really good fight,” Michael Vaughan concluded.
