Pakistan head coach Saqlain Mushtaq backed skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, with questions being raised over their batting approach during the Asia Cup 2022.
Pakistan, the fourth-ranked T20I side, were beaten comprehensively by eighth-ranked Sri Lanka by 23 runs in the Asia Cup 2022 final at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, September 11.
Overall, Pakistan won three of their six matches (including the final) in the competition, with the only convincing victory coming against Hong Kong. An untimely middle-order collapse versus Afghanistan almost ended their campaign before Naseem Shah delivered the heroic blows in a tense finish.
In the final, they were well placed at 91/2 from 13 overs in a run-chase of 171 but eventually stumbled to 125/9 and subsequently 147 all-out. Mohammad Rizwan (55 off 49) finished the competition with the most runs (281), but his overall strike-rate of 117.57 and of 112.24 in the final came under scrutiny.
“Every team and player has their own style and methods. The way we played, we reached the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup last year, we got to the final of an Asia Cup here. Evidence suggests you’re doing something right to get here.
“It’s not compulsory that you do what the rest of the world is doing [in terms of strike rates and showing more intent with the bat]. We’d rather focus on the small things we aren’t doing right instead of looking at what others are doing. His method is not bad,”
Saqlain said in Rizwan’s defence in the post-match presser.
Azam, too, endured a rare lean patch, registering scores of 10, 9, 14, 0, 30 and 5 at a collective strike–rate of 107.94. Several experts have also opinionated that the pair be separated at the top, with Fakhar Zaman being promoted as an opener to make it a left-right combination.
Saqlain felt that Babar was unlucky on several occasions, and maintained his trust in the experienced top-order.
“I said it earlier too, if someone looks at his batting, you’d just say he’s unlucky, especially the way he’s getting out. It’s just a patch. If you look at the rankings, he’s top in T20Is [No. 2, behind Rizwan] and in ODIs. It’s just been bad luck. The way he’s training and playing it’s amazing. His work ethic is top notch. I don’t need to say more. I hope Allah saves him from the buri nazar (evil eye).”
“You need to show faith, trust and belief,”
“If you keep shuffling, it sends a message that you don’t trust them. After the second match itself, there was chatter about our batting shuffle. You need to give time. If you keep shuffling, how will you know? It’s not good to shuffle a lot. It sends the wrong message.”
The former Pakistan great was in all-praise for Sri Lanka, who, after a humiliating eight-wicket defeat to Afghanistan in the tournament opener, bounced back strongly to win five on the trot, which included a six-wicket win and the top-ranked India and back-to-back resounding ones against Pakistan including the final.
At a venue wherein 26 of the last 30 games preceding the final had been won by the team chasing, Sri Lanka recovered from being 58/5 in the ninth over to post a competitive 170/6, setting it up for a sixth Asia Cup title win.
