Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that Pakistan will have to really look at the reality of their situation in the ongoing Men’s T20 World Cup, especially after suffering a shock one-run loss to Zimbabwe at Perth in a Super 12 match on Thursday.
In Group 2, Pakistan are yet to open their account and are at fifth place after suffering consecutive losses to India and Zimbabwe, which has left their hopes of reaching the semi-finals hanging by a thread.
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Apart from winning their remaining matches against Netherlands, Bangladesh and South Africa, the 2009 T20 World Cup champions would need for one between South Africa and Zimbabwe to win not more than one their remaining three matches.
“Well, they (Pakistan) will have to really stare at the reality now. What is the outcome? Yes, a lot of results have to go their way. Maybe, a couple of rain affected matches can also be the saviour for them, but they have sort of let things out of their control because the game against Zimbabwe was well within their grasp," said Bangar on ‘Cricket Live’ show on Star Sports.
In their chase of 131 against Zimbabwe, Shan Masood and Shadab Khan shared a 52-run stand for the fourth wicket, before Pakistan collapsed spectacularly to end up at 129/8 in 20 overs.
“There were so many occasions wherein they could have cruised to the target quite easily. In the sense that, Shan Masood dismissal or Shadab Khan’s dismissal, even till the very last over, the way Wasim and Nawaz were playing at that point. Nawaz’s indecision at times was questionable because he had spent a lot of time till that point and he could have finished the game," added Bangar.
In both of their losses, Pakistan’s over-dependency on opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to score runs has been visible with the duo not getting the starts expected of them. Though in the match against India, Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed got fifties, other middle order batters are yet to fire consistently, especially under pressure.
“Having watching them since the Asia Cup, we all know the over dependency of Pakistani batting on Babar and Rizwan. The moment these two players get out, it sends shivers in the dressing room and in the dugout and that’s never an ideal sign. All credit to Iftikhar and Shan, because even in the first game against India, they sort of held their innings together and brought Pakistan in the game, having lost their main batters cheaply."
“I feel, at times, having not to play together during practice matches, dismissed in the first game and again in the second game means that the middle order, which hasn’t been firing for them, has to do bulk of the work and it is never an ideal scenario for any team wherein the middle order is so freckle that they cannot handle the pressure so quickly," concluded Bangar.
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