They could not handle the pressure; We made mistakes but fought well: Pakistan experts react to PAK vs ENG T20 World Cup final result

"Shaheen's injury was also a big blow. I think when we started bowling, if our bowlers were a bit more disciplined, a bit more experienced, then probably the result could have been different," Misbah ul Haq said.

Pakistan players wait for presentation ceremonies after losing to England in the final of the T20 World Cup Cricket tournament at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Pakistan cricket experts Wasim Akram, Misbah ul Haq and Waqar Younis on Sunday pointed out where Pakistan went wrong in their T20 World Cup final match against England but lauded the team’s fighting spirit.

“I think it was top effort by the Pakistan team but I felt that they could not handle the pressure. It felt like we could not execute our plans properly due to the pressure. That led to mistakes. The pressure was why there were mishaps in our batting. Clearly we lacked discipline and game awareness in batting as well as in bowling. You have to assess the conditions and then communicate fast as well as reassess your targets and obviously knowing your resources and the conditions, you have to maximize. If you are laidback in a match like this and when a chance comes, if you put one foot wrong, you won’t be able to come back,” Misbah told A Sports.

“Shaheen’s injury was also a big blow. I think when we started bowling, if our bowlers were a bit more disciplined, a bit more experienced, then probably the result could have been different,” he added.

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“Sensational final. We made mistakes but we fought well but the two overs which Shaheen could not bowl made a difference. Nawaz did not bowl even one over. We saw how Adil Rashid was turning the ball and what magnificent bowling the boy has done. He has been phenomenal in white ball cricket,” Wasim Akram said.

“Yes, we made mistakes in batting as well as in bowling. There were lapses in captaincy as well. But we should all be very proud of the team because of the way they have played. We were maybe short of 15 runs. If early on Naseem’s length was fine and if we could have bowled back of the length balls on this pitch, things might have been different, but that’s the name of the game. It’s unfortunate that we have to be on the wrong side but we’ll take it on the chin,” Waqar Younis said.

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