Former England captain has pointed out the reason behind Pakistan's poor batting in the game against India in the 12th game of ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 on Saturday.
Indian bowlers bundled out Pakistan for 191 at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. With the exception of Babar Azam (50), Mohammad Rizwan (49), Imam-ul-Haq (36) and Abdullah Shafique (20), none of the batters showed any significant resistance with the bat.
The Men in Green were 155-2 and faced a big collapse as they lost eight wickets for 36 runs only.
The 55-year-old Nasser Hussain opined Pakistan had a wrong plan of setting up a total on this pitch since it is difficult to what we saw in the opening World Cup game between England and New Zealand,
"Pakistan set their target too high. That pitch is different to England v New Zealand pitch here. This pitch is slow and low, the sort of pitch you see in Pakistan and they should have set 280 as a target, they looked like a side that wanted 340 and that was too far away," Hussain said during the game.
After being asked to bat first, Pakistan's opening batters attempted to showcase their power, but Mohammad Siraj managed to trap Abdullah Shafique.
In his 24-ball innings, Shafique scored 20 runs, including three boundaries. Pakistan was striving to recover after losing Abdullah Shafique (20) and Imam-ul-Haq (36) against the Rohit Sharma-inspired Indian side.
Babar Azam partnered with Mohammad Rizwan and posted an 82-run stand. Babar Azam, who achieved his first ODI half-century against India, was dismissed by Mohammad Siraj after scoring 50 runs from 58 balls. The Pakistan captain struck seven boundaries during his careful innings.
In the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, the Indian team led by Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to field first against Babar Azam's Pakistan in a highly anticipated and high-profile clash.
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