“You Are Going To Pay”
Gary Kirsten, the coach of Pakistan, acknowledged that his team overexerted itself in the Twenty20 World Cup 2024 match against India. The players paid a heavy price as a result of their blunders.
In the T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, Pakistan lost to India by six wickets on Sunday, marking their second consecutive loss. There weren’t many encouraging signs. Gary Kirsten, the head coach of Pakistan, acknowledged that the players overexerted themselves and that the outcome jeopardizes their prospects of qualifying for the Super 8. India’s World Cup hopes are preserved with two more group stage matches remaining thanks to a close victory at a crowded Nassau County Stadium thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s economical three-wicket haul that put pressure on Pakistan’s batsmen and Rishabh Pant’s counterattacking, game-saving performance.
“Pretty much spot-on (about players putting excessive pressure on themselves),” Kirsten stated in a post-match press conference regarding the performance. Being international athletes, these guys understand that pressure will be applied on them if they are not giving their best. That’s understandable, but many of these men have played a lot of Twenty20 cricket over many years all over the world, so it’s really up to them to decide how they want to progress with their games.”
Kirsten stated that aside from an outlier rising sharply, nothing on the playing surface at Nassau County Stadium was unsafe.
In general, it remained somewhat lower. It was never going to be a high total, I believe, because we were able to score for both batting sides in addition to a rather slow outfield. On that pitch, 140 would have been a very nice score, in my opinion. India did not receive that, so I assumed the game was ours. We were aware that it would be difficult, but occasionally, watching sports like that may be enjoyable. Hitting sixes and getting 230s and 240s is not the only thing that matters. On a 120 pursuit, you can actually have a pretty fun game. Therefore, I don’t think it hurts the game,” he continued.
Kirsten stated that the message to the squad when chasing was to hunt for an odd boundary, punish sloppy deliveries, and rotate the strike well.
“A disappointing loss, for sure,” Kirsten added. “I knew 120 would not be an easy aim. If India only received 120, things were never going to be easy. But I believe we had the game at 72 for 2 with six or seven overs remaining. It’s disappointing that we didn’t make it across the finish line from where we were.
The former South African cricketer even questioned the team’s decision-making, claiming that such mistakes are not acceptable in international cricket.
“Maybe not the best decision-making. You’ve got the game on, you’ve run a ball, you’ve got eight wickets, and it’s time to make a decision. That’s how the game goes. That’s international cricket for you. If you make such blunders, you will pay the consequences. I believe we made several terrible judgments during crucial moments of the game. I believe Rizwan performed admirably for us. We anticipated it’d be a difficult pitch to bat on. We handled the chase effectively but then let it slip at the end,” said the former South African cricketer, who coached the Indian squad to an ODI World Cup victory in 2011.
The coach stated that on a surface like this, it is critical to rotate the strike properly.
“So, I agree with you that it can be entertaining to watch a game like this in which you must not only strike boundaries, but also employ 120 balls effectively. “As I previously stated, we did for 15 overs before losing the plot,” he added.
Kirsten highlighted his satisfaction with the bowlers, stating that the team ranks among the finest bowling units from overs 10 to 20. The coach stated that his team is currently losing too many wickets.
“We have four outstanding seamers, and Imad Wasim bowled pretty well today as well, in my opinion. We have some good alternatives with the ball as a team, and if we continue to bowl that way, I believe we will be a tough side to bat against. Thus, that is encouraging for the future. It is evident that there are concerns about how we will organize and finish our innings,” he remarked.
“We played exceptionally well in the last game against the USA, as we were 26 for 3 when Shadab Khan and Babar put on a partnership of 70. We are losing too many wickets, though, period. You cannot lose as many wickets as we are losing as a batting team. When that chance presents itself, players ought to assume accountability,” he continued.
