“This Is Not PSL”: Ex-Skipper’s No-Nonsense Verdict After Pakistan’s Loss vs England

Pakistan’s preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup began on a disappointing note as they lost against England in the second T20I of the four-match series in Birmingham. Asked to bat first, England posted a total of 183/7 in 20 overs with skipper Jos Buttler leading from the front, with his knock of 84. Later, the hosts restricted Pakistan to 160 after Reece Topley registered a three-wicket haul. With this win, England took 1-0 lead in the four-match series as the first match got washed out due to rain.

Former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik slammed Babar Azam an co for their approach and also suggested some changes in the batting line-up.

“This is not PSL this is international cricket that too, just before T20 World Cup. IMO, the batting order should be… Fakhar, Rizwan, Babar, Azam, Iftkar, Imad, Shadab,” wrote Shoaib on X (formerly Twitter).

– This is not PSL this is international cricket that too, just before T20 World Cup. IMO, the batting order should be…

Fakhar

Rizwan

Babar

Azam

Iftkar

Imad

Shadab

Captain needs to utilise the options on bench wisely. Moving forward, the captain should give time & enough…

— Shoaib Malik 🇵🇰 (@realshoaibmalik) May 25, 2024

Shoaib also stated that the team should utilize the potential of Azam Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed but giving them some more time in the middle overs.

“Captain needs to utilise the options on bench wisely. Moving forward, the captain should give time & enough overs to Azam & Iftikhar to settle first, expecting them to score 12-14 rightaway is unfair. All the best for remaining matches!!!” he added.

In the run-chase, Pakistan lost openers Mohammed Rizwan and Saim Ayub early, reduced to 14/2. Leaving aside a 53-run partnership between skipper Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman and a 40-run stand between Iftikhar Ahmed and Imad Wasim, Pakistan just could not keep going and were bundled out for 160 runs in 19.2 overs.

Topley (3/41) and Archer (2/28) were the top bowlers for England. Moeen Ali also got two wickets.

“It was a par score, our bowlers bowled very well. In the batting, there were moments, but we didn’t finish well. Small partnership between me and Fakhar and later on, there was no big partnership,” Babar had said after the loss.