USA's historic win over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup match in Dallas has become the talk of the town. On one hand, wishes are pouring in from all over the world for the World Cup debutants while on the other hand, Babar Azam and Co. are facing severe criticism for their dismal show. Many former cricketers from different countries slammed the 2009 champions and also questioned Babar's captaincy during the forgettable match against USA. Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar also did not mince his words while criticizing Team Pakistan.
Manjrekar stated that the loss against USA showed Pakistan hitting the "rock bottom". He also questioned the team's tactics and strategies during the game.
"So early to reach such a peak as far as international cricket is concerned, winning this game. You have got one team like USA reaching Mt. Everest while Pakistan have really hit rock bottom. I have not seen a worse performance from Pakistan. This is not just about the defeat. The review, the Super Over from Mohammad Amir, the misfields when the pressure was on. It hurts me to see this because when I played against Pakistan they were world champions, they have hit rock bottom now," Manjrekar said on Star Sports.
The former batter-turned commentator also went on to compare Team Pakistan's performance to club-level players.
"They have seen a few dips over the years. Pakistan being upset is actually a story in itself. India does not feature even once in the list of upsets in the T20 World Cup 2024. The quality of cricket that Pakistan have played today, they looked like club level players. Their batters at the top of the order gave far too much respect, they thought that 150 was a good enough score and that is why Babar Azam played the way he played. And that is where I really lost respect for Pakistan. Mohammad Amir
has been brought for the experience and he started off with a wide ball in the Super Over. It was terrible," the ex-India batter added.
Veteran pacer Mohammad Amir conceded 18 runs in the Super Over. Out of which, seven runs were leaked from wide balls. This turned out to be fatal for Pakistan as they lost the game by five runs in the Super Over.
Pakistan's next T20 World Cup 2024 match will be against arch-rivals India on Sunday in New York.