What Went Wrong With Pakistan Team in T20 World Cup 2024? Here is the Full Analysis of Pakistan’s Journey in the ICC T20 WC 2024

Pakistan Team in T20 World Cup 2024: That’s it! Pakistan’s ride in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 has come to an end just after their three matches in the tournament. USA became the second team from Group A to book the SUPER Eights Ticket besides India after a rain halted match against Ireland. Here we are with the analysis of Pakistan’s Journey and what went wrong with them in the T20 World Cup 2024.

They had a couple of T20I series just before the T20 World Cup 2024 where they had time for a full dress rehearsal. They played a five-match home T20I series against New Zealand first. At home, they lost two important matches of the series and a C team of New Zealand was able to seal a tie series against Pakistan in Pakistan.

Next, they toured Ireland and they had a three-match T20I series. Pakistan lost the series opener but recovered quickly to win the next two consecutive to clinch the series. The Ireland series was quite satisfying for Pakistan as their top order was on fire and bowling also looked promising even without Haris Rauf.

Then a rain delt England series was a total disaster for Pakistan. Two out of the four games were washed away by rain in the series and England won the remaining two. Pakistan were all out of their forms and that was a sign of the upcoming upset for them in the T20 World Cup.

Pakistan Team’s T20 World Cup Journey

Pakistan have just played three matches in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and lost two. That is all they have played in the T20 World Cup 2024.

Pakistan were placed in Group A alongside India, USA, Canada, and Ireland. The biggest threat for Pakistan were India in the group and it truly didn’t look that hard to make the qualifying numbers for Pakistan at the start of the tournament.

First up, Pakistan were scheduled to take on USA at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas. The Men in Green were decent with the bat in the first innings but the bowling wasn’t up to the mark. In defense of 160, Pakistan could only manage to pick up three wickets and that led USA to level up the scores.

Even in the super over, Mohammad Amir, the veteran, gave away 18 runs and that wasn’t going to be easy for Pakistan to chase. USA defended the total with 5 runs to spare and that was a big upset for Pakistan. Babar and Co. were out there with a loss in the very first match of the tournament that was not expected by anyone but USA.

They had India next at New York’s tricky pitch. Batting first India did a decent job in the first 10 overs but Pakistani bowlers showed up in good times and restricted India to under 119. It’s too easy on the first look but not really when you see Bumrah and Co. bowling hard on the pitch.

Pakistan’s middle order got crushed and India won the game by 6 runs at the end. It was the second loss for Pakistan in a row and USA on the other hand, won both of their opening matches.

Pakistan’s third match was against Canada and Pakistan did a decent job in sealing the contest. They restricted Canada under 107 and chased it down in 18th overs and got a better edge on Net Run Rate. Now they have their last contest to be played against Ireland on 16th June.

What Went Wrong With Pakistan Team?

There is not one thing that went wrong for Pakistan but a string of issues. The key issues were Management situations, imbalance in the playing11, concerns with the Form of players, and Lack of intent and temperament.

Lack of Management: First and foremost, they had team, players, and management fights always going on that created doubts in the players’ minds. PCB reinstalled Babar Azam as the T20I captain sacking Shaheen Shah just after a T20I series loss in New Zealand.

Imbalance in Playing11: There was an imbalance in the playing 11 in all three matches and that was pretty visible. Pakistan entered the World Cup stage with a ‘FOUR FAST BOWLERS’ approach which failed totally. Playing an extra pacer extracted a batting option from number 5 of 6 from the team. They even had issues with the top order as Babar and Rizwan opened for Pakistan in the first two matches and Saim Ayub got to open with Rizwan against Canada.

Concerns With the Form of Players: Except for Babar, Fakhar and Rizwan, none of the team members looked in their best. They believed in Azam Khan first but didn’t give him enough game time in the middle to make some space for him. Although they didn’t have a choice for a good middle-order player, they could have stuck with Azam Khan in the middle.

Lack of Intent and Temperament: If you look at the scorecard of the Pakistan team, you can’t tell if they have played in a T20 game or an ODI game. However, strike rate is not that big an issue if the conditions are not favorable but when you score 30-odd runs in 40-odd balls in a chase, you are certain to lose.

READ: T20 World Cup 2024 Points Table after USA vs IRE, Pakistan ELIMINATED, India, USA Qualified for T20 World Cup Super 8s