Gulf News experts analyse the stunning loss to Zimbabwe and what next
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00:00Hello everyone. Welcome to Straight Bad with Gulf News. The World Cup just got interesting, actually.
00:12Two upsets in two days and the form-book in the T20 World Cup has been torn apart.
00:18Today, Pakistan lost by one run to Zimbabwe, the Minnows. And Pakistan, remember, is one of the favourites to win the tournament.
00:26Another overwhelming favourite was England, who lost to Ireland yesterday.
00:30So, suddenly, the scramble for the semi-finals has taken a different hue altogether.
00:38But today, we also have two more matches. Actually, it was a triple-header today with South Africa defeating Bangladesh quite easily and India beating Netherlands.
00:47But before that, the match of the day certainly is Pakistan's match.
00:51Let us head over to Ashfaq. Today, we have with me Ashfaq and Nassar Satheesh to discuss all the three matches here.
00:58But let's head over to Ashfaq to find out what went wrong with Pakistan today.
01:04Hey, Shyam. Thank you so much. It's an embarrassing day for Pakistan cricket.
01:10They lost to Minnows. If you see the record, Pakistan played 17 matches against them and lost one only last year.
01:19And today, there have been a lot of memes going around about fake Mr. Beans going to Zimbabwe, who is like a copy of the original Mr. Beans actor.
01:32So, the memes were saying that we have to take revenge today for sending fake Mr. Beans, and they did it.
01:38And coming back to the match, I would say Pakistan, the South Africa batters, they started off very positively.
01:49And if you see the first four overs, three of the score, like 30 runs, they straightaway went after Shaheen Shahafridi in first over with 14 runs.
01:59Shaheen Shahafridi hasn't got his rhythm back, I think. So, he got wicketless today again for the second consecutive match.
02:06One change they made could have brought in Mohammed Hussain, who bowled brilliantly.
02:12But I think they were short of best men. Even going to one, giving 130 runs to Zimbabwe was a bit too much.
02:20It was okay score, but I think with this kind of bowling attack, when they choked them for 90, for six, seven,
02:27they should have brought them out for 110 or something, I think. But as I said in the very beginning,
02:33if Babur Azam doesn't score, we don't have a tournament. So, that's what exactly happened.
02:38In two matches, he didn't score, and the middle order can't finish it.
02:44Okay, thank you Ashfaq there. And Satish, what exactly did Zimbabwe do right?
02:52Chum, they played cricket in such a way that that's what is required in Australian wickets.
02:58They ran hard, they tried to put a score. They managed to score 130 despite losing almost five
03:04or six wickets in between from the 12th over to the 16th over. But still, they managed to keep
03:10the run rate going. They ran the hard singles and converted the singles into twos.
03:16They ran hard. They did all the basics right to go up to 130, which was probably a good fighting
03:23total. But where they managed to get even better was getting the two wickets of Babur Azam and
03:32Mohammad Rizwan. If you take those two wickets, I think by and large, you have taken out 50%
03:38of Pakistan's batting out, going by the record what happened in the last one year.
03:43I think they understood that and then they went, bowled at the right areas. If you look at
03:48how they bowled to Babur Azam where he was not very comfortable. So, they kept him there and
03:53got his wicket. Rizwan's was a very chance wicket. But still, I think they really played
03:59their heart out and then they did their homework right. And from the word go, they were very
04:06positive in their approach. That's the key. As Ashfaq said, they started hitting Shaheen Shah
04:11Afridi for 14 runs in the first 12. So, I think that must have been given a little shock to
04:16Pakistan where by the time they came in, the six-over powerplay was quite good for them.
04:22They scored some 45-50 runs. It was a pretty good score considering the brilliant Pakistan
04:28bowling attack. Probably, that's the best in the world. Still, they managed to get those and that
04:32gave them the momentum to reach where they are. Otherwise, they would have probably finished at
04:36120 or 110 at the end of the 20 overs. Ashfaq, you said if Babur Azam scores,
04:48Pakistan will win. But isn't it too much to expect Babur Azam to score every single time?
04:53There are 11 other players in the team, which means at least another five specialist batsmen
04:58there. They should be chipping in as well, isn't it? Absolutely, Shyam. It should be the case.
05:03But it's not happening. Look today what happened. Babur Azam and Rizwan left and then the scores
05:11slowed down. In 10 overs, they scored like 54 runs. Shyam Masood and the other guy,
05:22Shahdaz was there. Shahdaz Tukhar also got out very early today. And then they didn't keep the
05:29run rate. Always, they were below the run rate. They're senior batsmen. They're good enough and
05:36they know we don't have batsmen behind. They should keep up with the run rate. They should
05:41check the run rate. Why did they leave like 30 runs in the last three overs when on one side,
05:48two bowlers are basically batting. One is Nawaz Al-Andar and Mohamed Naseem were batting. So,
05:53it was too much for them on such a big wicket. You can't hit sixes on that wicket. So,
05:59and the Zimbabwe player, they really played their heart out. Look at the fielding. They
06:06didn't drop catches. The stumping by for Shyam Masood, stumping by like it was extraordinary
06:12work of glove. That turned around the match. And then look at Pakistan's fielding. Heatherley
06:18dropped two catches and then Tukhar dropped the catches. They were slow in running. Zimbabwe
06:23player took a lot of three runs also. I mean, it all counts. I think they took it easy on Zimbabwe
06:29and they had to pay. Ashok, I have one doubt, one question to ask. Sorry to interrupt Shyam.
06:36Go ahead.
06:39Mohamed Nawaz is basically a bowling all-rounder. You take a bowling all-rounder in the team and
06:45he has not bowled a single ball. He has not bowled a single ball. Yeah, absolutely.
06:50Why do you need to take a bowler in that case? So, he could have taken a batsman, isn't it?
06:56The batsman is already struggling. Probably, they wanted to have like one more left-hander
07:02with Shyam Masood as one left-hander and the second left-hander. Probably that's the case.
07:08Otherwise, there was no need for Nawaz in the team. They could have played
07:14Pushtil Khan or even Asif Ali because they had the bowlers, enough bowlers.
07:18Correct. They should have played a specialist. And Ibtigar didn't bowl a single ball as well.
07:22So, you have two bowlers who have not bowled a single ball but you are struggling with the
07:27batting, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. They should have played a specialist batsman instead.
07:32But I think that they shouldn't worry about Nawaz selection because he scored 22 and he
07:38brought Pakistan to the doorstep of victory actually. But he's not a finisher, Shyam. That's
07:43the problem. Yeah, I know. But the thing is he at least got Pakistan to at least
07:46where they were on the cusp of victory really. But Shyam, to give credit to Mohammad Nawaz,
07:53he's the one who won the match against India in Ishaq. Absolutely. But still,
08:01in that match, he came one down. That was very hard. Now, his situation was different.
08:07He had to finish the match. Ashfaq, my point is in a match where all the batsmen,
08:13all the frontline batsmen, people like Ibtigar, Hyder, all these guys failed. Nawaz scored 22
08:18and brought Pakistan very close. If Nawaz had also failed, the margin of defeat would have been
08:24much higher. Yeah, absolutely. I think they have to think about Nawaz as a batsman there.
08:31Yeah, they have to think about Haider Ali as well. I would say they must bring
08:37Fakhar Zaman in the next matches. He's a left-hander as well.
08:42He's a left-hander. He's an experienced player. He knows how to keep the run rate. He can win
08:50the matches as well. And he has done it in the past. I think he should be brought in if Pakistan
08:54wants to qualify. I think three matches must win now. And that also depends on even if they win
09:00three, then there may be a tie for run rate as well.
09:06Correct. That brings me to Satish. Now, what are Pakistan's chances of qualifying?
09:13Like if I understand, they would have to win all the matches and South Africa will
09:21have to defeat India and expect the other matches to go their way.
09:25No, Shama. The advantage South Africa or Zimbabwe has is they have one point extra
09:31from that no-result game. So basically, South Africa have lost only one game so far.
09:42Yeah, right. If South Africa defeats India, will it help Pakistan?
09:49Oh, maybe. But I think India should suffer two losses, isn't it? Because Pakistan has lost two.
09:56It doesn't matter if they were to win one.
09:58If India beats South Africa, that will help Pakistan.
10:01Yes, possibly. And South Africa also need to lose to somebody else because
10:06they are one point behind anyway, right now. It's a 50% loss. Yeah. South Africa should lose
10:12one match either against… Of course, Pakistan match, they have to lose, which makes it one
10:19loss for South Africa. And if they lose another match also, then it makes it a kind of Pakistan
10:25will have an advantage. Otherwise, South Africa, that one point will give them the advantage
10:29with that rain-affected match.
10:34Do you need to add anything to today's match right now? Because I have one more question
10:38about… Was there anything… Because you said that the bowling also wasn't up to scratch. Because
10:44the first few overs, the bowlers were bowling full up. And they focused… I mean, Simbabwe
10:51raised off to something like 40 or 48 runs in four overs or something like that.
10:55So, they were quick off the blocks before they pulled the length. I mean,
10:58Rauf came back and pulled the lengths back. And that is when the collapse happened.
11:02So, there is also a bit of… Tactics-wise also, there has to be some changes, isn't it?
11:10Yeah, sure. Absolutely. They have to go back to the backcourt. Because these are big wickets,
11:15big grounds. They have to change the strategy. Instead of trying to hit sixes and fours,
11:21they have to run for scores. They have to play proper cricket instead of just slogging. This
11:28is not working there. As you said, the whole match has two sixes. One from Nawaad, that was
11:32also on the full-cost shorter boundary. And one from Simbabwe. And this is very… It's a bit
11:38odd in T20 matches. So, they have to bring in proper best men for these matches and specialist
11:48bowlers. If they want to win this, slogging will not work. They have to run hard in the field also.
11:54They have to field well to stop scores. So, I think they have to change the strategy a bit.
11:59Because in these matches, winning or losing tosses doesn't matter. Because these are big
12:03grounds and slogging doesn't work. So, anybody can win. Whether it's betting for a second,
12:08whosoever plays will play better. I completely agree with you. And I think the only time when
12:15Pakistan looked like in the game was when Shahan Masood and Shadab was there. They were running
12:20hard. And they were hitting the scores. I thought, Shadab needlessly got out.
12:25Yeah. Shadab needlessly… He hit a six to Raza, Sikandar Raza. And then he wanted to
12:30hit another six. This is irresponsible. This is sloppy betting. When you got the hit,
12:36six, just run for couple of runs, single thing. Then you got 10 runs in the over.
12:41And Raza is not an ordinary bowler. He brought Simbabwe to World Cup. He had played major role.
12:48You know, Raza is from Pakistan, from Sialkot. And he studied in UK and then went to Simbabwe.
12:57And he is in the team. And he was so happy. He was ecstatic to win against Pakistan.
13:04He got three wickets and he just choked them. That was the thing. The way he got
13:10Shahan Masood out and the way the wicketkeeper spotted him, it was extraordinary. That was
13:15a turning point for the match for him. Absolutely.
13:18And Shahan, coming back to the points table, the one good advantage Pakistan has got is South
13:24Africa has to play India, Pakistan and of course, Netherlands. Probably they might
13:30win against Netherlands. Let's assume they win against Netherlands. Still, they have to beat
13:34India and Pakistan. So if Pakistan could beat South Africa and Pakistan also need to play against
13:39Netherlands and Bangladesh. So they will be on six points. And if India could beat
13:45South Africa, then Pakistan will be on six points. India will be on
13:49probably eight or 10. And South Africa will be only five.
13:52So there is a mathematical possibility of possibility of course, of course, Pakistan
13:59for Pakistan to come in now, India has to beat South Africa and Pakistan have to beat South
14:04Africa. Of course, the basis Pakistan need to beat South Africa as the first step for them.
14:09The basis Pakistan needs to win all the three matches.
14:11All three matches, especially against South Africa, because that's the key. Otherwise,
14:15they will be up against Africa on five points now.
14:19Against South Africa, Netherlands and Bangladesh.
14:25Now, Ashutosh, you said about Sikandar Raza. Now, Satish, my question is, how good a spinner
14:32is Sikandar Raza? Because his three wickets actually changed the match. And like Ashutosh
14:37said that stamping actually was the turning point. And also Sikandar Raza was singularly
14:42responsible for bringing Zimbabwe to the World Cup. Tell us more about his as a spinner.
14:52He is a thinking cricketer. That's the key. He is now, he's changing his actions. He's
14:59changing his bowling. He has the variations. He plays on the…
15:03He bowled exactly like Sunil Narine, isn't it?
15:06Absolutely. I think earlier he was not bowling. He didn't have this action. I think he modified
15:10his action somewhere in between. And he has developed all these variations from that.
15:15And believe me, this year he is one of the top three scorers in the world in T20s and
15:2350Os. He is single-handedly…
15:26Almost 3,000 runs he has.
15:29He has single-handedly led Zimbabwe to victory against Bangladesh.
15:35He was ruthless in that. He has been in tremendous form this year. And that has rubbed off on his
15:42bowling, where he believes that he will be able to deliver. And generally, if you are confident
15:47in cricket, you perform well. So he was confident of doing well. And he played on the minds of the
15:53batters. And he was not getting the wickets in between. But the opening he got when Shadab Khan
15:58gave him the wicket, he literally made the door open ajar and he went through that.
16:05That's the hallmark of a champion cricketer. And he has been
16:09one of the best this year in the world cricket, Shyam.
16:13Okay. Now, quickly, let's go through the rest of the matches. Today, we had the first century of
16:19the T20 World Cup. That is Riley Russo scoring 103 against Bangladesh. So, did you guys get to
16:28watch the match?
16:29I watched it, Shyam. What a knock he played. Right from the ball one, he was timing the ball in the
16:34middle. And it was one of those days, unfortunately, Bangladesh had to be there. But it was
16:40one of those days where you don't want a batsman like Riley Russo to be hitting the ball the way
16:44he is hitting. Even a gentle sweep was clearing the field comfortably in a ground like Sydney,
16:51which means he had the power, of course. But the timing, he was timing some sublime. He was
16:57hitting the sweet spot so well. And thankfully, he made it count. Generally, what happens is when
17:02you are in such a form, you play more shots more too often and then get out somewhere in between.
17:09But I think today being the left-handers day, both Quinton De Kock and Riley Russo literally
17:17tormented the Bangladesh attack and he was hitting with ease. And what a knock he played. Brilliant
17:24he was, actually. I hope he continues to play this way every game than once in a while. Because then
17:32it makes South Africa even more a stronger team. Yes. South Africa scored 205-5 and
17:41Bangladesh was never in the chase. So, we won't go there.
17:44I would say Bangladesh tried. Because obviously, when you are chasing such a big score, they never
17:48wanted to finish the 20 overs. They were trying hard. Obviously, with
17:54Andrew Nokia coming and steaming in, you can't take chances against them.
17:59So, in a way, the first couple of overs, they were still in the game.
18:04Soumya Sarkar played some good shots. Shantu played some good shots.
18:10First two overs, they were okay. And from 26-4-1, they slumped to 101-1.
18:19That's when Andrew Nokia came in and then he got the wickets.
18:23Andrew Nokia returned 4-4 with 4 wickets. And after that,
18:28actually, Bangladesh found him too hard to handle. So, let's put it that way.
18:32Now, your impressions on India's win against Netherlands?
18:40It was a very clinical performance. I only felt sorry for Netherlands because they were a little
18:46all at sea. And there should be some way to make these associate nations play more frequently
18:53and increase their level of experience. Because they played brilliantly. They bowled brilliantly
18:58for the first 10 overs. And this is the case with every association. They do well in patches.
19:05They are not able to sustain it to the entire period of the game. So, if they had done that,
19:10maybe India wouldn't have scored 180 runs or 179 runs at that point of time. Maybe they
19:16would have ended up at 140-145. And that pressure would have come on the bowlers,
19:22who would have made some mistakes and the run rate, the difference would have been narrower.
19:26But the last 10 overs, literally, of course, you are dealing with players like Kohli and
19:31Surya Kumar Yadav. You can't keep them quiet. Surya Kumar Yadav is number three in the world
19:36today. So, they took the match away from Netherlands. So, but credit to Netherlands
19:41for the way they played. And there are some two good, nice talents in Tim Pringle and
19:48the next spinner, I think his name is Ahmed Sam… Briaz Ahmed, I think if I remember right.
19:55Charees.
19:56Charees Ahmed. Charees Ahmed. Correct.
19:57Yeah. He bowled only one over, strangely.
20:00Exactly. He bowled one over, giving five runs against Deez Bhai Bhattar. And then,
20:04he was not given the bull. I don't understand the reason behind it.
20:07That was bizarre, really. I didn't quite understand. So, I think that is the way for today.
20:16And we shall catch up tomorrow. And this is Abhinav…
20:20Big game, Sam. Big game. It's a do or die for both Australia and England.
20:24Yeah, that is the traditional match of Australia rivals tomorrow. So,
20:27we need to catch up tomorrow on that. So, before that, let's… Before the big match,
20:33any impressions about the Australia-England match?
20:38I have, Sam. I think I would go with England because they had one off day. But I am sure
20:44they won't have far too many. And they are too strong a team. And even that, I think if the rain
20:51had not intervened, they would have probably won that. Of course, they would have huffed and puffed
20:55towards the victory. But still, they would have won. But the way Australia are playing,
21:01maybe you will support Australia. I will go with England.
21:05I know. I like the way you phrased huffed and puffed. But my point is,
21:09whether you huffed or puffed, a victory is a victory. A loss is a loss.
21:13England lost, simple as that. And England, like Joe Butler said, they were completely outplayed.
21:17I mean, I will leave it at that. Ashfaq, tomorrow, who is your pick for the England-Australia match?
21:23My pick is Australia tomorrow.
21:26Okay. Two is to one.
21:30Why, Ashfaq? Why?
21:32I think they should win. It's happening on their turf. And I think they will have tremendous support
21:38in the stadium as well. And they have the team to win. They can.
21:45Matthew Wade has got COVID, Ashfaq. So, he is under cloud. And believe me,
21:51they don't have a wicket-keeper. They have taken that number.
21:54They might play him. Because if you know, Ireland's George Docter played the match when he was COVID.
22:01And also, Adam Sandbauer, when he had COVID, he was still available for selection. Only thing,
22:05they didn't take a chance with him. So, you never know about Matthew Wade.
22:12Let's see. It's 2020. It can be anybody's game.
22:14No. Australia took this gamble of keeping only one wicket-keeper. When the second wicket-keeper,
22:21Inglis, got injured in a golf accident, they replaced him with an all-rounder. So,
22:26they don't have a spare wicket-keeper. They might bank on David Warner to keep wickets
22:31if Matthew Wade is not fit.
22:33Ah, that would be interesting. Anyway, they can't go with a part-time keeper for an important match.
22:39Exactly. That's my question. They said that we have taken this gamble. Exactly,
22:45let's come back to bite them.
22:47Oh, that would be very, very interesting. Anyway, let's see how it turns out. My money
22:52is on Australia. Despite the setback to Matthew Wade, I still think tomorrow is Australia's day.
23:00And I hope they win. And let's find out tomorrow. Till then, that's it from us
23:06at gulfnews.com. For the latest updates and breaking news, please log on to gulfnews.com
23:11and all our social media channels. Till tomorrow. Good night from us here. Thank you.