Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief and former national captain, Ramiz RajaHe generated controversy with his assessment of the Indian team’s performance in the high voltage. ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Group A match against Pakistan in New York.
Despite a promising start, the Indian cricket team’s innings took a dramatic turn in the second half as they stumbled from a strong position to a below-average total. Raja pointed out that Pakistan made the same mistake as India, playing aggressively at the latter end of the chase and losing the game.
Ramiz Raja criticizes India’s maverick play despite victory over Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2024 match
On the slow pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, India looked set for a solid total, at 80/3 in the first 10 overs. But Indian team He eventually posted a modest total of 119 runs in 19 overs against Pakistan.
However, a flurry of quick wickets, including Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube and Rishabh Pant, led to a middle-order collapse, with the Men in Blue losing their last seven wickets for just 30 runs against Pakistan.
While some dismissals were attributed to the Men in Green’s excellent bowling, others lost their wickets due to poor shot selection at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 9.
Despite their below-average batting performance, the Indian bowlers rose to the occasion, successfully defending the modest total by restricting the Men in Green to 113/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Meanwhile, analyzing the successful match, Raja said that India’s aggressive approach, due to its “maverick” shot, did Pakistan a favor but they failed to make the most of it.
The commentator also admitted that if the Indian team had adopted a more conservative strategy, they could have posted a formidable total, potentially beyond Pakistan’s reach in the T20 World Cup 2024 clash. Raja also said that the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan It was the turning point of the game.
India did Pakistan a favor by playing badly: Ramiz Raja
Cricbuzz quoted Ramiz Raja as saying: “India did them a favor by playing badly. Actually, because they were playing as Mavericks, otherwise they would have easily reached 140-150, which would have been beyond Pakistan. But due to their shooting errors and good bowling, Pakistan got back into the game.”
The former Pakistan captain added: “Mohammad Rizwan’s shot off Jasprit Bumrah missed the mark. Bumrah had arrived to provide the breakthrough. His two overs were decisive for Pakistan. If they had gone ahead and ensured that Bumrah was negotiated safely, everything could have been smooth sailing. There is a lot of clarity in Bumrah’s mind about what he wants to do and he is always one step ahead of the opponent. “That was really the critical moment.”
Raja also criticized Pakistanthe inability to handle pressure situations, especially against India. He pointed out that the Pakistani batsmen needed to play their simple game on a challenging pitch, in contrast to India’s aggressive approach.
They often freeze in tense situation: Raja criticizes Pakistan cricket team
Raja lamented Pakistan’s tendency to lose momentum under pressure and termed their defeat as a missed opportunity against their arch-rivals. He said goodbye saying: “You have to do simple things. It was a difficult pitch and you saw India throwing down their wickets trying to be aggressive. You couldn’t be aggressive because there was variation in the rebound.
So, what had to be done was negotiate two or three balls that were difficult. Otherwise, there were three or four races. But they continued to lose wickets. They lost momentum. It’s just that they tend to freeze in a tense situation. And that is very sad to see. “This was the best chance they had in a long time to beat India.”