Babar, Kirsten reflect on Pakistan’s shocking loss to India, coach blames ‘poor decision making’ for letdown

Pakistan head coach Gary Kirsten blamed poor decision making for the six-run loss to India in New York, while captain Babar Azam admitted his team was far from convincing in their second T20 World Cup match. Chasing 120, Pakistan was in control till the 11th over but failed to make the most of themomentumas Jasprit Bumrah wrecked the middle order with his three-wicket haul.

Bumrah was India’s best bowler, returning with figures of three for 14, as India defended the joint-lowest total in the tournament history.

At a stage when Pakistan needed less than 70 runs with almost nine overs and nine wickets remaining, losing wasn’t even looking like an option. However, poor decision making regarding which bowler to target led to Pakistan’s downfall, as they crumbled under pressure and eventually lost the match, their second straight this time.

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Reflecting on where Pakistan lost its momentum, Coach Kirsten said, “Maybe not so great decision making. You have got the game on, run a ball, eight wickets in hand and decision-making at that point.

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“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,” he said in the post-match presser.

Instead of pointing fingers at just one or two individuals for this shocking loss, Kirsten said the whole team is responsible for the result, as none played close to their best when it needed the most.

"Everyone's responsible," Kirsten admitted. "We accept the loss, and we take the heat because the team has not done well. And we will do what we can to try and rectify it. I have been here for 12 days, so it is a new journey for me understanding the players that are going to win games for Pakistan, which is what you are looking for."

Tactics were there but we couldn’t convert

Admitting to failing to convert their chances against India, be it for playing too many dot balls or losing wickets at the wrong time, Babar said they failed to capitalise on the momentum, for which they are deeply disappointed.

"We bowled well after ten overs, and we would have taken 120. It's a better total here. In the batting, we went run-a-ball, but unfortunately, but we lost back-to-back wickets, and then there were too many dot balls," Babar said.

“Tactics were simple - play normally, just rotate the strike, and just try and play one boundary and be normal...get five or six an over. But in that period, we had too much dot balls, the pressure was on us. And we lost back-to-back two to three wickets,” the skipper added.

Meanwhile, for Pakistan to qualify for the Super Eight, they must beat Canada and Ireland convincingly and hope for India and Ireland to thrash the USA.