I let my team down: Pakistan star blames himself as Babar Azam & Co. lose to Sri Lanka in Asia Cup final

Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final on Sunday evening (September 11). Locking horns in the marquee clash, at the iconic Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, Sri Lanka did the unthinkable by defending a score at the venue -- which is favourable for teams batting second -- to beat Babar Azam & Co. by 23 runs. With this win, the Islanders not only made a strong statement ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022 edition -- from next month in Australia -- but also went on to claim their sixth Asia Cup title overall.

Talking about the contest, Pakistan opted to bowl first and reduced the Lankans to 58 for 5 in 8.5 overs. From thereon, Bhanuka Rajapaksa's 71 and all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga's 21-ball 36 propelled them to a fighting 170 for 6 in 20 overs. In reply, Pakistan only managed 147 all-out in 20 overs with Md Rizwan scoring a 49-ball 55 and Iftikhar Ahmad's 31-ball 32. While the batters failed to get going, Pakistani fielding was also not up to the mark.

Shadab Khan, one of the best fielders in Team Pakistan, dropped Rajapaksa twice. In the 17th over of the Lankan innings, he gave a reprieve to the left-hander and once again dropped him in the next over as well, colliding with Asif Ali as the ball went for a six. He returned with decent bowling figures, 4-0-28-1, but only managed a six-ball 8 during the run-chase. Taking cognizance of his ordinary day on the 22-yard cricket strip, the all-rounder was quick to accept his mistakes and shared a heartfelt note on Twitter.

After the match, Shadab Khan took to Twitter and wrote,"Catches win matches. Sorry, I take responsibility for this loss. I let my team down. Positives for team, @iNaseemShah, @HarisRauf14, @mnawaz94, and the entire bowling attack was great. @iMRizwanPak fought hard. The entire team tried their best. Congratulations to Sri Lanka."

Apart from Shadab, even Md Rizwan was slammed for his unimpressive 49-ball 55-run knock. The right-hander remained Pakistan's highest run-getter but was trolled for not being able to score freely. He ended with a below-par strike rate of 112.24.

At the post-match presentation, Babar said, "Congratulations to Sri Lanka for playing outstanding cricket. We dominated them for the first eight overs, but the partnership that Rajapaska got was amazing. This was a true wicket and it is always nice playing in Dubai. We didn't bat according to our potential. We started well, but we gave away 15-20 extra runs and couldn't finish well. A lot of positives for us to take. In a final, the margin for mistakes is lesser. Our fielding wasn't up to the mark and the batting couldn't finish it off well. But Rizwan, Naseem and Nawaz were positives. Ups and downs will be there, but it would be nicer if we made lesser mistakes."