Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik criticized Pakistan’s batting after they could not put up a fight against India in the Asia Cup clash in Dubai on Sunday. After electing to bat first, Pakistan could only manage 127-9 in their 20 overs.
The Men in Green could not get any kind of impetus in their batting innings as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Malik said Pakistan’s mundane performance was not surprising as he feels the team tends to fall apart when they are put under the cosh.
Pakistan batters could not convert their starts and they looked toothless against the potent Indian batting bowling line-up.
“It’s not surprising at all. Not one bit. Let me take you back a little—if you look at 2022–23, whenever we face tough conditions, we collapse. Whenever there’s spin, or when the ball moves a bit, we completely forget how to bat,” Malik said on Tapmad.
“We simply don’t know how to build an innings when facing quality spin bowlers. Our shot selection is strange. So, for me, this is not surprising.”
“The only hope I had was if we had managed 160–170 runs, maybe then our bowlers could’ve had something to fight with. But once our batting collapses, there’s no chance. They neither know how to find the boundary nor rotate the strike, and yet they are representing the country.”
The former all-rounder admitted Pakistan has no chance while playing against the big teams at the top level as they have not gone upwards in their game.
“Look, I feel our stakeholders need to open their eyes. Hockey went down the same path, and now cricket has almost reached the same stage. But against big teams, we have no chance,” Malik said.
“Because we never really grew our cricket. People kept saying “do this, do that,” but nobody paid attention. Today’s game shows exactly where our cricket stands. When you face quality spinners, at the very least, you should know how to survive against them. The way we played today was very disappointing,” he added.
Pakistan will next take on the UAE at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, on Wednesday.
