WESTBURY, N.Y. (AP) — Still reeling from the painful memory of its crushing defeat to the United States, Pakistan will enter Sunday’s Twenty20 Cricket World Cup match against arch rival India in low spirits.
The United States recorded its second straight victory in its first World Cup appearance with a historic win over Pakistan in a Group A match in a Super Over in Dallas on Thursday.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam cannot afford another defeat which could seriously jeopardise his team’s chances of making the Super 8 playoffs.
Nothing has seemed to go right for Babar’s Pakistan team ever since their defeat to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup final. Pakistan have previously lost T20 international matches to Afghanistan, an understrength New Zealand, Ireland and England, before suffering a shock upset defeat to the United States on Thursday.
The reaction back home in Pakistan was predictable.
“USA dominated Pakistan in the opening match,” former Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis wrote on social media site X. “You have made history. Pakistan looked exhausted and helpless on the field. Congratulations USA on a big win.”
Shoaib Akhtar, another former Pakistan fast bowler, added: “Unfortunately, Pakistan did not deserve the win.”
And Pakistan’s struggle may continue.
In a purpose-built 34,000-seat stadium in Westbury, New York, on Long Island, mysterious drop-in balls with varying degrees of bounce await Babar’s struggling batsmen and the likes of Indian fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower criticised the New York pitch as nearly dangerous.
“I have to say it’s not a very good surface for an international match,” Flower said. “It’s dangerous. The ball is bouncing left and right, occasionally sliding low and hitting thumbs, gloves and helmets, making it very difficult for hitters.”
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said there was something wrong with the preparation of the stadium.
“Either the pitch wasn’t well prepared or there was something outside of their control,” he said. “It’s certainly not for lack of effort – the best they can do is keep a drop-in pitch rolling – but they have a problem, essentially they have a problem with the pace of the surface.”
Sri Lanka were bowled out by South Africa for 77, while India dismissed Ireland for 96 in their group opener.
Babar has been reunited with proven opening partner Mohammed Rizwan but apart from Fakhar Zaman, it is the mid-order that has not given Pakistan any impetus.
The pace quartet was also in poor form and failed to make any early breakthroughs. Haris Rauf conceded 15 in the final over of the regular game against the United States and Mohammed Amir, who came out of retirement for the World Cup, was smashed for 18 in the super over against the US.
India look the more settled team with experienced forwards in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and have the added advantage of experiencing New York conditions. They played a warm-up game against Bangladesh before beating Ireland by seven wickets.
Given the inconsistent bounce of the ball, Sharma may opt to use four fast bowlers against Pakistan, as he did against Ireland, and has also managed to field two spin all-rounders, Akshar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.
“We look at the pitch and the conditions and we are ready to make changes and do what is required at that point in time,” Sharma said after the win over Ireland. “When I selected the team, I wanted to maintain that balance and if the conditions were right for our seamers, then we wanted to make it happen.”
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Associated Press
