Ireland’s Lorcan Tucker (L) congratulates Pakistan captain Babar Azam after Pakistan won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match against Ireland at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Lauderhill. PTI
LAUDERHILL: Pakistan captain Babar Azam rued the mistakes his team made against India and the United States in their previous Group A matches, even as the former champions bid farewell to the T20 World Cup with a three-way consolation win. lands over Ireland here.
Babar was there to see Pakistan come home against the Irish team as they posted an unbeaten 32 in a chase of 107 that they almost ruined.
“I think in the bowling the conditions were right for our players. But in batting we made few mistakes in the matches against USA and India. When you lose wickets, the pressure is on you,” Babar said at the presentation ceremony after the game.
“We couldn’t finish even games and as a team we weren’t good,” he admitted.
Pakistan lost its first two Group A matches against India and the United States before beating Canada and Ireland.
However, Babar was happy that his team finished the tournament with a victory.
“Yes, we finished well. We took early wickets with the ball. But with the bat, we didn’t finish well. We lost consecutive wickets, but in the end we got over the line.”
Babar said Pakistan will have to regroup quickly, although he did not give any definitive answer on his future as captain.
“Let’s see what the team needs, I will accept it. We have a good group of players, we have to go home, talk and see where we are missing and then come back,” he added.
Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was later named player of the match, said they did not play the right type of cricket in the tournament.
“We have not played the type of cricket that our country demands, we have some areas to improve. It is difficult (the result),” Afridi said.
Ireland captain Paul Stirling said they never managed to get the team balance right.
“It’s about getting that balance right. T20… we probably won’t have it this time. It’s been a tough couple of weeks. We’ll come back, regroup and see if we can come back stronger,” he said.
