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T20 WC: Unlucky Pak should feel proud of their show

Harshit Bisht

Pakistan were unlucky to miss out on a final place in this year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup despite being the most consistent team in the tournament.

Babar Azam’s men did a fantastic job throughout the group stage and won all five matches. They were even ahead of the Aussies in the second semi-final on Thursday till the third ball of the penultimate over. But as Hasan Ali dropped Matthew Wade near the boundary rope, things changed, and within the next three balls, Pakistan’s dream of winning the title got crushed and they were out of the tournament.

The Australian wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade hit Pakistan’s best bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi for three back-to-back sixes that took the five-time World Champions to their second World T20 decider where they will now face Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in a repeat of the 2015 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday.

Pakistan’s exit from the T20 World Cup is a shocking one because they were the better team in this tournament till they got out. Be it with the bat or with the ball, they were miles ahead of any other side. In fact, Pakistan’s fielding was impressive as well in the UAE until that one dropped catch by Hasan Ali ended everything.

However, despite the exit, this Pakistan team can feel very proud of what they have done in the UAE this time.

They not only ended their World Cup jinx against archrivals India, but they did so in style, with a crushing 10-wicket victory.They also took revenge against New Zealand and kept nerves calm to seal the close contest against their neighbors, Afghanistan as well.

The best part about the Pakistan team in this tournament was that they stuck with the same 11 in all the six matches and none of them disappointed, and on each occasion, they had a new match winner.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, with his toe-crushing yorker, sent Rohit Sharma back to the pavilion on the third ball of the opening encounter to put India on the backfoot and went on to take the prize wicket of KL Rahul and Indian captain Virat Kohli as well to keep India at bay. And then the opening pair of Mohammad Rizwan and skipper Babar Azam never allowed the Indian attack to make any inroads into the Pakistan batting line-up.

If it was Shaheen’s day against India, then Haris Rauf showed his class against New Zealand and, with three crucial wickets, he kept the Kiwis under check.

In the Afghanistan game, when the chips were down at one point, Asif Ali came and smoked four sixes in an over to win the match with an over to spare.

Against Namibia, Babar and Rizwan made 70+ each to continue the purple patch. The duo were Pakistan’s biggest strength coming into this T20 World Cup, and they lived up to the hype in the UAE by finishing as the top two run getters in the tournament.

Before the event kicked off, Pakistan made a last-minute change by bringing in veteran Shoaib Malik as an injury replacement, and at that time, a lot of people, including some former greats, questioned his selection. But the former skipper justified his inclusion, and apart from playing the anchor role in the close win against New Zealand, he smashed an 18-ball fifty against Scotland in the final group match to show that he still has things to contribute. His 18-ball fifty was the fastest by a Pakistani batsman in T20 World Cup history.

Pakistan’s good show with bat and ball was not just limited to the group stage matches, but in the semi-final against Australia too, Pak batters were at their best. Be it Rizwan, who made a 52-ball 67, or Fakhar Zaman, who remained unbeaten on 55 from 32 balls and helped Pakistan post a big total against the strong Aussie batting line-up.

On Thursday, it was Shadab’s day as well and he took a wicket each in four overs to constantly break the Aussie partnership and keep Pakistan’s hopes alive. But it all came down to one dropped catch in the end, and Pakistan had to go out.

But despite all that, this was Pakistan’s best show since their 2017 Champions Trophy win in England.

And if they manage to keep the bunch together and maintain the same level of consistency in their performances, then they can soon win a big tournament.