India beat Pakistan by six wickets in the ongoing Champions Trophy. The Mohammad Rizwan-led side was of no match as both their batting and bowling units struggled to put up a show at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Meanwhile, the defeat resulted in Pakistan being ruled out of the semi-final race and their next game against Bangladesh will only be for formality.
Ahead of that match, Pakistan coach Aaqib Javed blamed the experience of his players for the defeat to India. He noted that the Indian cricketers have collectively played more than 1500 games, whereas Pakistan is somewhere close to 400. He added that Babar Azam is the most experienced campaigner in the Pakistan team but he too has played only 128 ODIs, much less in comparison to the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
“When Pakistan and India are playing, it’s more than cricket. Numbers suggest that this Indian team was more experienced. Collectively, they have played more than 1,500 games, whereas for Pakistan, we are at the bottom. Collectively, this team has played around 400 games,” Javed said in the press conference.
“Babar (Azam) is the most experienced among the lot, who has played more than 100 games, followed by (Mohammad) Rizwan and Shaheen (Afridi). The rest have played less than 30 games, so when you’re talking about more than a game, experience counts. There is no doubt that there was a lack of experience. There were new guys and we didn’t perform to expectations under pressure,” he added.
Notably, Pakistan will play Bangladesh on February 27 in Rawalpindi. The game is expected to be disrupted by the rain.
Squads:
Bangladesh Squad: Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Nahid Rana, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nasum Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar
Pakistan Squad: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Khan, Faheem Ashraf