There were few positives to advocate as Pakistan suffered second successive defeat of the T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, going down to India by 6 wickets on Sunday. The result puts Pakistan's Super 8 qualification chances in jeopardy, and the team's head coach Gary Kirsten admitted that the players put more pressure on themselves than they should have. Jasprit Bumrah's miserly three-wicket haul which applied pressure on Pakistan batters and a counter-attacking, match-saving knock by Rishabh Pant powered India to a narrow win at a packed Nassau County Stadium which keeps India's World Cup dreams alive with two more group stage games to go.
Speaking about the performance after the game in a post-match press conference, Kirsten said, "Pretty much spot-on (about players putting excessive pressure on themselves). These guys are all international players and they are aware that when they are not performing at their best there is going to be pressure put on them. That is understandable, but a lot of these guys have played a lot of T20 cricket around the world over many, many years and it is really up to them to decide how they are going to take their games forward."
On the playing surface at Nassau County Stadium, Kirsten said that it was not dangerous by any stretch except an oddball rising sharply.
"It generally kept a little bit lower. I think we were able to score for both batting sides and also a fairly slow outfield, so it was never going to be a big total. I would have said 140 would have been a really good score on that pitch. So, India did not get that so I thought we had the game. We knew it was going to be tight but sometimes it is fun seeing games like that as well. It is not always about sixes and hitting, getting 230s and 240s. You can actually have a really entertaining game on a 120 chase. So, I do not think it is bad for the game," he added.
Kirsten said that the message to the team while chasing was to look for an odd boundary, punish the loose deliveries and rotate the strike well.
"Disappointing loss, that's for sure," Kirsten further said. "I knew 120 was not going to be an easy target. If India got only 120, it was always going to be not the easiest. But I think we had the game at 72 for 2 with six or seven overs left. Disappointing not to get across the line from the position we got ourselves into."
The former South Africa cricketer even questioned the team's decision-making, suggesting in international cricket you can't afford to make such mistakes.
"Maybe not so great decision making. You have got the game on, run a ball, eight wickets in hand, decision-making at that point. That's the game. That's international cricket for you. You make mistakes like that, you are going to pay. I thought we made some poor decisions at important phases of the game. I thought Rizwan played well for us. We knew it was going to be a tough wicket to bat on. We managed the chase very well but then just let it slip in the end," said the former South Africa cricketer, who had coached the Indian team to an ODI World Cup win in 2011.
The coach said that on a surface like this, it is important to rotate the strike well.
"So, I agree with you that sometimes it is fun to watch a game like this where it is not only about hitting boundaries, but you also have to be able to use 120 balls really well. As I said, we did for 15 overs and then we lost the plot," he added.
Kirsten expressed his happiness with the bowlers, saying that the team is among the best bowling units during overs 10 to 20. The coach admitted that currently, the team is losing too many wickets.
"We have got four fantastic seamers and Imad Wasim I thought bowled really well today as well. So, we have got some nice options on the ball with the team and I think we are going to be a difficult team to bat against if we bowl like that. So that is a positive going forward. Obviously, there is a concern around how we can put our innings together and structure it," he said.
"We did really nicely in the last game against the USA where Shadab Khan and Babar put on a partnership of 70 when we were 26 for 3. But period, we are losing too many wickets. As a batting unit, you cannot lose as many wickets as we are losing. Players have got to take responsibility when that opportunity comes," he added.
With ANI Inputs