Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim spoke about his innings against India at the T20 World Cup. Imad Wasim, one of the villains of Pakistan’s loss, as declared by the public copped plenty of flak for his weird knock of 15 off 23 balls. The all-rounder Imad Wasim came out of retirement for the World Cup, but the outcome, as it turns out, clearly didn’t go as planned.
Pakistan are out of the T20 World Cup. Is it surprising Yes and no. Yes, because the team pulled off a classic Pakistan. And no, because, well… how could they not have qualified for the Super Eight stage when you had the USA and Ireland in the same group But that’s Pakistan for you – always unpredictable. Semifinalists in 2021 and finalists in 2022, 2009 champions Pakistan have endured a first-round exit. And this will sting.
Pakistan’s poor show in WT20 2024.
It all went downhill when Pakistan lost to the USA, and a defeat against India only made it worse. It was Pakistan’s best chance to break their ICC hoodoo over the arch-rivals, but they bottled a chase of 120 with the equation at one stage, reading 53 needed off 48 balls with eight wickets in hand. Imad Wasim, one of the villains of Pakistan’s loss, as declared by the public copped plenty of flak for his weird knock of 15 off 23 balls. The all-rounder came out of retirement for the World Cup, but the outcome, as it turns out, clearly didn’t go as planned.
Imad was levelled serious allegations by former Pakistan batter and captain Salim Malik, who feels that he deliberately wasted deliveries. “He [Imad Wasim] made sure he doesn’t get out and keep bettering his batting average. If I’m a batter and I’m not getting runs then I would try taking risk, no matter if I get out. But he kept on eating up deliveries and then changed the ends with singles,” Malik said.
“Imad Wasim didn’t get to play much cricket since the last PSL. Shadab Khan, who scored 40-odd against the USA in the last game, shouldn’t have been promoted up the order. Sorry, but I would like to question why he [Imad Wasim] was promoted up the order, given that he hadn’t got enough chances before [the World Cup]. The batter should at least have tried something instead of playing dot balls.”
Ahead of Pakistan’s final T20 World Cup match, albeit an irrelevant one, against Ireland as both teams are knocked out, Imad Wasim opened up on his innings against India, where he admitted letting the team down and regretting every bit of it
Imad Wasim says he let Pakistan down with scratchy knock in 2024 T20 World Cup clash vs India
Pakistani all-rounder Imad Wasim struggled to get going with the bat in the team’s crucial 2024 T20 World Cup fixture against arch-rivals India in New York on June 9. The Men in Green suffered a heartbreaking six-run loss in the low-scoring thriller.
The Babar Azam-led side looked to be in the pole position after bundling out India for just 119. However, the score proved to be enough on the tricky pitch, as Pakistan finished at 113/7 in 20 overs.
Imad Wasim was sent in to bat at No. 5 ahead of Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan, but the veteran player couldn’t deliver. Pakistan were 73/3 in 12.2 overs when the southpaw came at the crease.
He played a sluggish knock, scoring just 15 runs from 23 balls. Speaking ahead of Pakistan’s upcoming match against Ireland, Imad Wasim admitted that he failed to do the job for his team in the marquee clash.
Stating that he regrets how he batted in the run-chase, here’s what Imad Wasim said during a media interaction:
“I let down because usually when I go in this situation, I am very calm and finish the job. And this was my job to finish which I couldn’t do. I will regret this and I still regret it. But this is life.
“Sometimes you make mistakes. But life is like that, sometimes you make mistakes. So, you can say that this was a phase in my life that I unfortunately could not achieve. I will regret it, but my execution was not good.”
Pakistan suffered back-to-back losses to the United States of America (USA) and India at the start of their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign. While they beat Canada by seven wickets to get off the mark on the points table, their hopes of making it to the Super 8 round were dashed as USA finished with five points, securing the second place in Group A.
Imad Wasim on the 17th over of Pakistan’s innings
Imad Wasim played three dot balls off Axar Patel’s bowling in the 16th over and Pakistan managed to score just two runs of those six balls. Hardik Pandya ensured that the pressure was not released, claiming a wicket and giving away just five runs in the subsequent over.
Imad Wasim mentioned that while he wanted the take the game deep, the tight 17th over from Pandya severely dented Pakistan’s chances. The 35-year-old added:
“Usually, under pressure, bowlers give you a ball and there is a margin. But I think I was taking the game deep and I was hoping that a new batsman would come and for that it is virtually impossible. But Naseem hit two good shots. That 17th over, I think, I feel that the move of the runs in that over was a turning point.
“It’s unfortunate that it happens, it’s an incident but it was a big game. Our team and I are more disappointed than you are.”
Pakistan would hope to bow out of the 2024 T20 World Cup with a consolation win against Ireland in Florida on Sunday, June 16.