Pakistan’s batters lost the plot after 15 overs and are now under pressure after failing to perform at their best in the IND vs Pak T20 World Cup match on Sunday evening, said the team’s recently appointed head coach, Gary Kirsten.
He stressed the importance of rotating the strike, especially on difficult pitches like this one. He mentioned that his team did not execute this strategy effectively, PTI reported.
Addressing a press conference after the match, Kirsten said, “…it is really, really important to be able to rotate the strike. So, I agree with you that sometimes it’s fun to watch a game like this where it’s 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…we’re losing too many wickets. As a batting unit, you can’t lose as many wickets as we are losing. Players have got to take responsibility when that opportunity comes,” he said.
Pakistan struggled with 59 dot balls during their chase, with Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah causing significant trouble, taking 3 wickets for 14 runs in his four overs. Its next match is crucial against Canada at the same venue on Tuesday, serving as a virtual must-win game for the previous edition’s runners-up.
“These guys are all international players and they’re aware that when they’re not performing at their best that there’s going to be pressure put on them. That’s understandable…but a lot of these guys have played a lot of T20 cricket around the world over many, many years and it’s really up to them to decide how they’re going to take their games forward,” the South African said.
Speaking about the team’s strategy while chasing, Kirsten emphasized the importance of capitalizing on loose deliveries and keeping the strike rotating. However, he expressed disappointment that the team lost momentum during a critical phase of the innings.
“…I thought we did that brilliantly for 15 overs. We kept it at a run a ball, and then we lost wickets and then we stopped scoring ones and then we were looking for boundaries and once you’ve got to that point, it was always going to be hard. So, the message was to do what we executed on for 15 overs,” the coach added.
(With PTI inputs)
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Published: 10 Jun 2024, 01:23 PM IST