Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt lashed out at the Pakistani players after their poor show against Zimbabwe in their T20 World Cup 2022 match on Thursday, October 22. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt stated how the Pakistani batters failed to chase down the total. He stated that the lack of game awareness had now cost them two crucial matches at the mega event.
Butt explained: “I am utterly disappointed today. It was a poor display of batsmanship. We have highlighted this issue several times that there is a lack of game awareness, lack of sense, and lack of good shot selection. When you are on the field, you have to think about what the situation demands.”
Speaking of openers Babar and Mohammad Rizwan’s failures against Zimbabwe, Salman Butt said that they didn’t take enough risk early on during the run chase.
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“The Pakistani batters didn’t take any risks during the powerplay overs. You should never take the match to the last over when you chase a total of 130. I don’t know who is guiding them.”They are the No.1 and No.2 batters in the world. If Babar and Rizwan also need to play according to plans made by the coaches, it means there is no difference between them and a new player,” Salman Butt concluded.
Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has lashed out at the team’s batting department after they failed to chase down 131 in the T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 match against Zimbabwe on Thursday, October 27. According to him, Zimbabwe’s bowling had nothing much, yet Pakistan struggled to score.
Dissecting Pakistan’s below-par batting effort against Zimbabwe, Inzamam-ul-Haq said on his YouTube channel: “The same problem existed during the Asia Cup as well. As soon as the top two got out, others couldn’t do anything. Babar and (Mohammad) Rizwan got out early and we couldn’t chase 130 against Zimbabwe. There was no reason for them not to chase it down. There was no extreme pace on offer from Zimbabwe bowlers. (Sikandar) Raza is a part-time spinner and Pakistan struggled against him as well. Their bowlers were bowling at speeds of 130-135 and yet our batters were beaten at least 40 times. This is not a one-off batting display. This has been happening for a while now.”
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While stating that Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood have done well with the bat, the former player added that one-off performances are not going to win them the T20 World Cup as well. While Iftikhar hit 51 against India and five against Zimbabwe, Masood registered scores of 52* and 44 as well.
“We all knew Pakistan would struggle if Babar and Rizwan don’t score. Yes Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood scored runs in the first game. But there is no point of this form where you score one fifty and then go to sleep for the next three to four games. You cannot win any tournament like this. I don’t know where Pakistan stand now because South Africa is the other danger team in the group. Just like Pakistan, South Africa also have a number of good fast bowlers. They thrive under these (Australian) conditions. Their batting also is in form as they scored 200 (against Bangladesh). Things have become very difficult for Pakistan,” Inzamam-ul-Haq concluded.
