Pakistan cricket team was completely outplayed by India in all the 3 facets of the game. Babar Azam was dismissed cheaply during the mammoth run chase as his dismissal proved to be the difference in the end. Babar Azam was bamboozled by Hardik Pandya who set him up brilliantly.
Pakistan’s fragile middle order was exposed and perhaps now the time has come for the management to promote the leg spinner all-rounder Shadab Khan in the middle order. We witnessed how the likes of Iftikhar & Salman struggled against the spinners.
It seemed like Fakhar Zaman had come on a tourist visa- Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra was seen speaking on his YouTube channel and was quite impressed with the way Jasprit Bumrah bowled against Pakistani batters. Aakash Chopra stated that Fakhar Zaman looked in all sorts of trouble during his knock against Indian bowlers and also questioned Babar Azam’s game plan.
“Jasprit Bumrah started it. Imam-ul-Haq, who was struggling at the start, got an outside edge, and a good catch was taken in the slips. It seemed like Fakhar Zaman had come on a tourist visa because Bumrah was bowling and the keeper was catching the ball repeatedly,” said Aakash Chopra.
“Then Hardik Pandya came and dismissed Babar Azam. Now that’s a question – we say our players will be judged by how they fare against Australia or Pakistan, then why not Babar Azam? He still does not have even a single ODI fifty against India. So he is struggling a little bit against India,” he added.
Wake up call for Pakistan
Pakistan have been dealt with a massive blow as there are concerns over the fitness of Haris Rauf & Naseem Shah. There has not been an official word on the duo but it seems that the management won’t risk them by playing the last fixture against Sri Lanka on 14th September.
Pakistan will have to go back to the drawing board and perhaps change the approach in the powerplay overs as there was hardly any intent shown by Imam & Fakhar and now questions have started to raise over Fakhar’s place in the team as the batter needs to play his fearless brand of cricket rather than getting into the shell which is hampering the team.