Cricket
“Pakistan Team Can’t Exist..”- Ramiz Raja
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When the Pakistan cricket team arrived in India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, the Babar Azam-led side was among the hot favorites for the semi-finals. As they leave the World Cup, with just four wins in nine games in the round-robin league stage, it’s a sorry state of affairs for the team and country. Pakistan ended their disappointing campaign at the World Cup 2023 with a 93-run loss to England. Pakistan needed a miracle in the match to go through the semifinals as they were way behind New Zealand in the net run-rate scenario.
After England posted a total of 337/9 on the board, Pakistan had to chase it in 6.4 overs which was practically impossible. What was even more disappointing was the fact that Pakistan’s top order didn’t even put up a fight against England and both the openers departed within 10 runs on the board.
Former PCB Chairman and Pakistan skipper Ramiz Raja expressed some raw emotions after this flop show from the Men In Green. He called this performance ‘a specimen of the 80s’. Ramiz said that Pakistan can’t beat the good sides by playing this kind of cricket.
“Even the batting performance of today was a specimen of the 80s kind of cricket. Pakistan cannot exist thinking they can beat good sides, who have advanced in aggression, thinking and strategy, by playing cricket of this nature. I just hope the negative, fault lines are addressed. This team needs a mental lift. Because most of the nucleus will remain the same till the next World Cup. Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam are quite young,” Ramiz Raja said on Star Sports.
Ramiz Raja Criticises Pakistan’s Bowling Performance
“The worst thing is the lack of bowling performance. The spin department looked absolutely bare to what others produced. Their ability to play spin was also questionable. A sub-continent team playing spin so insipidly was big news to me. I never expected Pakistan to be so flat against spinners. Losing to Afghanistan and India hit them. Whenever there was a need to be aggressive, Pakistan failed,” he concluded.
England ended their campaign on a good note with a win against Pakistan. They humiliated an already demotivated Pakistan team to secure the 7th position in the points table. England has now qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 which will be held in Pakistan. Pakistan suffered a huge loss by a margin of 93 runs.
Pakistan’s improbable hopes of a semi-final qualification were over right at the toss when Jos Buttler decided to bat first and England scored 337/9 in 50 overs. In response, Pakistan could only manage 244 runs in 43.3 overs as their batters were unable to pick Adil Rashid’s googlies and were also ineffective against David Willey’s incisive swinging deliveries. David Willey was awarded the Player of The Match for his figures of 3/56 in 10 overs.
There was not a chance that Pakistan would make the cut because even if their batters managed to hit 40 consecutive sixes in 6.4 overs, they wouldn’t have surpassed England’s massive total and crossed New Zealand’s net run rate. Pakistan was out of the World Cup just after England’s innings ended with a score of 337/9 on the board.
The academic interest was whether Pakistan’s batting was able to handle the pressure of the scoreboard and once again Babar Azam’s men batted in a rather archaic manner, as if the World Cup was being held in 1992, when Pakistan won it and not in 2023. They were playing very slowly in terms of the target they were chasing and were also losing wickets at regular intervals.
Now they will have to quickly recover from this setback and they will set foot on Australian soil for their tour where they will play three test matches. Pakistan’s World Cup campaign was a poor one and some harsh decisions are needed to be taken regarding the team’s management and other aspects.
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