One part of the world, on June 7, Friday woke up to one of the biggest upsets in cricket history. USA, a team filled with stars looking to make an impression on the global stage, had upstaged former champions Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. Clinical performances in all departments saw Monank Patel and his team pull off the win and pile on the misery on Pakistan.
Babar Azam and his men looked all over the place with the bat as the skipper's slow innings sort of set the pace for the entire game for them. With the ball, there were some bright moments as USA were forced to dig deep and push the game into a super over. Mohammad Amir took the ball but ended up conceding 18 runs. There was only one boundary in that over and the rest came from extras and some smart running between the wickets.
Saurabh Netravalkar, a former U-19 player for India, then delivered a sublime over that helped USA defend the total and get the win and make it 2 out of 2 in T20 World Cup 2024. So, what really happened to the Pakistan team? Why did the finalist from the last edition have such an embarrassing performance?
Mohammad Hafeez seems to have given his take on the matter as the former Pakistan all-rounder dissected the loss in fine fashion on PTV Sports.
Hafeez started with praising USA for the win and quickly turned his attention towards Pakistan. He felt that USA had defeated Pakistan twice in a day. The former cricketer said he couldn't understand how the team couldn't control their nerves in the Super Over.
"There were some debatable calls. How did Pakistan lose not one, but two matches in a day. First we lost the 20-over game and then the super over. We understand you were nervous. It was a nervous batting innings, it was nervous bowling and fielding. I understand it in the 20-over game. But you couldn't control your nerves in a Super Over?" said Hafeez.
Hafeez went on to say his options for the Super Over would have been either Naseem Shah or Shaheen Shah Afridi, instead of Mohammad Amir. The former cricketer said Amir had been away from Pakistan cricket for 4 years and it wasn't right to give him the ball at that time.
Hafeez was also surprised to see why Fakhar Zaman wasn't on strike in the Super Over against a left-arm pacer.
"You couldn't make the right call? Who was the best bowler? For me, it would be Naseem Shah and then Shaheen Shah Afridi. So it was a debatable call to give it to Mohammad Amir."
"Amir was away from Pakistan cricket for 4 years. Don't try to compare international T20 leagues to international cricket. I have been trying to say this a few times. You didn't trust your main player and trusted someone who is making a comeback after 4 years."
"Then you went into the super over. Will Fakhar Zaman be the one taking strike, or will he be at the non-striker's end? You have a left-arm pacer bowling and you know he would bowl wide yorkers. So these are debatable calls," said Hafeez.
Hafeez said that the slow decline had started in the home series against New Zealand, when an under-strength Blackcaps side was able to draw the 5-match series 2-2. The former cricketer said that none of this was looked at and no one gave any response.
Hafeez claimed that the system was compromised as they got greedy for success and this resulted in the loss. The former cricketer said that Pakistan has been lacking bench strength since last year's Asia Cup and that issue hasn't been solved till now.
"This started with the New Zealand home series. They beat us with their C team. They didn't draw the series, they won it. But we brushed it aside. You bring in players who aren't part of your system. No one is there to give a response. When you get greedy, you compromise your system and you won't get the win."
"What we saw today, many had predicted this a long time back. But no one will take responsibility for it. They will do some useless chatter and move on. When your players are not able to respond, take responsibility. The bench strength wasn't ready for Asia Cup, not for ODI World Cup and even now."
"Otherwise, it will become history. How the USA defeated us twice in a day. They outclassed Pakistan in all departments," said Hafeez.
Pakistan will need to bounce back quickly and face the tough task of going up against India on June 9 in New York.
