'If he Was There, we Would Have Won Both Matches': Former Pakistan Cricketer Rues Absence of T20 Star After World Cup Shocker

If the heart-breaking loss to India in a last-ball thriller wasn’t enough, Pakistan succumbed to a shocking defeat at the hands of unfancied Zimbabwe and thus suffering successive defeats in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. The twin defeats have left them in a tricky spot as far as their chances of making it to the semi-finals are concerned.

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While it’s hard to match up the intensity and emotions of a clash with old rivals India, the loss to Zimbabwe would hurt them more considering the wide gulf that exists between the two teams. Zimbabwe have qualified for the Super 12 stage for the first time and Pakistan are a former world champion and counted among the world’s top T20I teams.

Across both the defeats though, there was one common thread: batting failures. It seems that Pakistan, who made it to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup last year, are overtly reliant on captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.

Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed though feels that the team would have avoided the twin humiliations in Melbourne and Perth had they taken veteran allrounder Shoaib Malik in the squad for the marquee event in Australia.

“Agar Malik iss team me hota.. wo subse zyada fit hai, aur subse zyada usko game-awareness hai. Ye dono match hum jeet jaate (Shoaib Malik is the fittest and has a better game-awareness compared to others. If he was part of the team, Pakistan would have defeated both India and Zimbabwe)," Aaqib said on Geo News.

Pakistan are though not out of the semi-finals race, at least mathematically. However, the path has gotten difficult for them now.

Pakistan will have to win all three of their remaining matches of the Group 2. However, if any two of India, South Africa and Zimbabwe end up winning at least two of their remaining fixtures, they will end up with over six points which is the maximum that Pakistan can now reach.

Additionally, net run-rate could also have its say so a big victory would also brighten their hopes.

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