Hardik Pandya: “Babar and Rizwan were timid. They didn’t take any chances”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya admitted he was shocked at how “timid” the Pakistan batting duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were during their 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup clash.
Azam and Rizwan made 50 and 49 respectively, but considering that neither of them upped the ante after getting settled, it allowed India to make a roaring comeback as Pakistan went from 155/2 to being bowled out for 191.
India comfortably won the match by seven wickets and Pandya admitted that he expected the Pakistan duo to take more risks since they looked to be in complete control at one point.
“Babar and Rizwan were timid. They didn’t take any chances,” he told Star Sports as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam ended up scoring 320 runs in nine World Cup matches, which included four half-centuries, at an average of 40.
As for Rizwan, he amassed 395 runs in nine games, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 65.83.
Pakistan began by beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They bounced back with wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand, but failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
The men in green’s World Cup campaign ended on a disappointing note as they lost their final group stage game against England by 93 runs.
Having failed to get the results expected, Azam resigned as captain in all three formats, with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood replacing him as T20I and Test captain respectively.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali
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