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Pakistan captain Babar Azam has listed a number of reasons for why his side suffered a devastating eight-wicket loss to Afghanistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan produced a second upset in the 2023 World Cup when the side overcame the Pakistan team without much trouble in Chennai on Monday.<\/p>\n
The Monday game marked Afghanistan\u2019s second victory in three matches, with their first upset against world champions England on 15 October in Delhi.<\/p>\n
Azam won the toss at the MA Chidambaram Stadium and opted to bat.<\/p>\n
He top-scored for Pakistan with 74 runs off 92 balls as they put up 282 for 7 in 50 overs, which met their goal, the skipper revealed at the post-match conference on Monday.<\/p>\n
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But Pakistan, whose semi-final chances have taken a significant hit with their latest defeat, fell short in their bowling and fielding efforts and the result \u201churt\u201d the team, Azam said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis loss was very hard as a team. And the batting and our plan was to total 280-290. And when we achieved that, I think we were not up to the mark in bowling and fielding. You have to bowl well and field well. In the middle overs, the spinners didn\u2019t bowl as they should have. They didn\u2019t put pressure on them,\u201d Azam told reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you bowl well, and you bowl for 3-4 overs, the pressure comes on the other team. I congratulate their team for the way they played. They played outstandingly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Azam also admitted that in a tournament like the Cricket World Cup, if a team does not perform well even in one department, they\u2019ll lose the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the field, we didn\u2019t stop boundaries and gave away runs and that cost us. All credit to Afghanistan for the way they played in all three departments. That\u2019s why they won,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not playing good cricket in bowling and fielding. We\u2019ll try our best in the next match. We didn\u2019t hit the lengths in the middle overs, especially our spinners. We couldn\u2019t put pressure on the batters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pakistan stayed put in fifth place in the 2023 World Cup points table while Afghanistan has now climbed to the sixth spot.<\/p>\n
As Afghanistan chased down their target of 283 without breaking into a sweat, temperatures in Pakistan soared. Commentators like former team captain Wasim Akram slammed the side\u2019s fitness and called the loss \u201cembarrassing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was embarrassing today. Look at the fitness level of Pakistan players. We\u2019ve pointed out that these players have not had fitness tests in two years!\u201d remarked the former top international cricketer.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir faces are bulging. These are professional players, there has to be a criteria. When Misbah-ul-Haq was coach, there were fitness criteria in place.<\/p>\n
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\u201cPlayers hated him. But it worked! Fielding is all about fitness. That\u2019s where we are lacking,\u201d said the Pakistan legend on the country\u2019s A Sports network.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan will next travel to Pune to take on Sri Lanka on 30 October, while Pakistan will remain in Chennai for a major game against South Africa on 27 October.<\/p>\n