Naseem Shah put in a valiant fight at the end with the bat but Pakistan fell short of India’s total by 6 runs in the T20 World Cup 2024 match on Sunday.
Naseem Shah crying after Pakistan’s loss against India© X (Twitter)
The India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup 2024 Group A clash on Sunday turned out to be an absolute thriller, where the bowling sides of both the teams stepped up to deliver. Batting first, India could only put 119 runs on the board, losing all 10 wickets in just 19 overs. However, the score proved to be enough as India’s Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya put in an exemplary show with the ball, restricting Pakistan for just 113, despite Naseem Shah’s late cameo with the bat.
Naseem remained unbeaten on 10 runs off 4 balls but couldn’t help his team go across the line. Seeing his effort falling short, and the defeat putting Pakistan’s T20 World Cup campaign in serious trouble, Naseem couldn’t control his emotions. The Pak star was seen crying after the conclusion of the match, with his teammate Shaheen Afridi trying hard to console him.
Even Naseem Shah, our young bowler, played better than our highly paid batsmen. The time has come, if you’re not performing well, please resign gracefully and let others join. It’s time to take strict decisions, or they’ll never understand. #PakvsInd
pic.twitter.com/kkV9LZntFX— Saad Kaiser 🇵🇰 (@TheSaadKaiser) June 9, 2024
A picture of India captain Rohit Sharma has also emerged on social media, where he could be seen trying to console Naseem who was visibly heartbroken because of the defeat.
Pakistan captain babar Azam lauded his team’s bowling and blamed batters for playing ‘too many too balls’, resulting to a below-par show while chasing a gettable target of 120 runs.
‘We bowled well. In the batting, lost back to back wickets and had too much dot balls. Tactics was simple to play normally. Just strike rotation and the odd boundary. But in that period we had too many dot balls. Can’t expect much from tailenders. Our mind was to utilise first six overs in batting. But one wicket down, and again we weren’t up to the mark in first six. Pitch looked decent. Ball was coming on nicely. It was a little bit slow, and some balls extra bounce. Have to win last two matches. Will sit and discuss our mistakes but looking forward to last two matches,’ Babar said after the match.
For Pakistan to now qualify for Super 8, a few other results have to fall in their favour.
