Pakistan crashed to a humiliating 7-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in Mirpur, Dhaka. The hosts outplayed the opposition in all facets of the game and deserved the win that they got. While the Tigers celebrated last night, Pakistan had a lot to ponder about especially in the batting department. We will try to ascertain three reasons why Pakistan lost to Bangladesh.
Complete batting failure derails Pakistan
Pakistan were put into bat first on a challenging track and one expected them to adapt as quickly as possible. But they did not and fell like a pack of cards losing wickets at regular intervals. Only Fakhar Zaman showed resemblance of fight, but he too was riding his luck as he was dropped a couple of times. But he made a resolute 44 off 34 balls.
But the rest of the batting fell for single digit scores. Khushdil Shah tried to show some fight with his 17 off 23 balls while Abbas Afridi was the last person out for 22 off 24 balls. But the rest did not turn up and the three run outs also did not help Pakistan as there was so much miscommunication. Bangladesh bowled well and credit to them for exposing Pakistan cricket to the world.
Going forward, Pakistan would like to plug this gaping hole and put in consistent batting performances. They must avoid this collapse that they have witnessed and put in the hard yards. Being consistent is very important and Pakistan sometimes falls short of that category.
Inability to break Parvez Hossain Emon-Towhid Hridoy partnership hurts Pakistan
Pakistan were defending a modest total of 110 and needed early wickets to make a match out of it. They did that by reducing the hosts to 7/2 in 2.2 overs. But then Parvez Hossain Emon and Towhid Hridoy started to play fire by fire and counter-attacked for Bangladesh by playing shots. By seeing this Pakistan seemed to run out of ideas and allowed Bangladesh to pull away.
As a result of this, the chase became a cruise for the Tigers as they romped home in the end with deliveries to spare. Hridoy ultimately got out but not before putting on a 73-runs stand for the third wicket. This set Bangladesh up and Jaker Ali finished things off in style in the end. But a better fight would have been interesting viewing.
Going forward in the series, the Men in Green must go all out and try and rip apart the Bangladesh batting from a 7/2 situation and create more trouble for the opposition. Yes, this time they had a low score to defend and the bowlers might have searched for wickets. But they need to stick to disciplines and make a match out of it should be the aim.
Salman Agha and Saim Ayub’s failures hurts Pakistan a lot
While senior batter Fakhar Zaman did his bit, he hardly got support from his teammates. Two players who failed in the game and must pull up their socks are Salman Ali Agha the captain and Saim Ayub. Ayub made 6 off 4 balls while Salman made 3 off 9 balls. Salman did not bowl while Saim’s 2 overs went for 16 runs without a wicket taken. These two players are the mainstays of this Pakistan line-up in the absence of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi.
Gone are the days when we will say Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha are youngsters finding their feet. Now they are seniors and part of the leadership group in the T20I squad. They need to step up and be counted under challenging conditions. While the whole batting failed, these two should have stood up and helped Fakhar Zaman out. But they let the southpaw battle on his own.
Men in Green will definitely look upto Salman Agha the skipper and Saim Ayub to deliver with the bat and lead them to victories in the remaining games. The visitors has the talent to do well. It is all about the temperament and the will power to do well and if they put mind into matter, they can beat this Bangladesh team and make a comeback in the series.
What Lies Ahead
Pakistan and Bangladesh will battle in the second T20I also in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday the 22nd of July. Bangladesh would like to seal the series in the second match itself while Pakistan will look to make a roaring comeback and level the series 1-1 and force a decider a couple of days later.
So, will the Bangla Tigers roar loudly or will the Pakistanis come back with a vengeance? Only time will tell as the second T20I is set to be played in Mirpur on 22nd of July and we cannot wait for the match to get underway.
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