Fatima: Pakistan need to ‘reflect’ on the ‘poor cricket’ they played during the World Cup

Pakistan are on the edge of finishing the T20 World Cup winless as they have lost four of their games so far. They were drawn into the same group as heavyweights India, South Africa, and Australia. 

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This, in addition to their shoddy batting display, eliminated them from the competition in the first three games. They have one game left now, against Netherlands, where they would seek a win to avoid ending with a nought in their wins column.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana acknowledged that the side played ‘poor cricket’ and have only themselves to blame for the lows they have witnessed during the World Cup.

“I think we just played poor cricket in this game, and as a whole team we need to accept that. We need to go back, reflect, and improve ourselves," said Fatima at the post-match presentation.

Pakistan’s build-up to the World Cup began with a three-match home T20I series against Zimbabwe, which they won 3-0. Following that, they travelled to Ireland to play a tri-series involving them, the hosts, and West Indies. Pakistan could not win a single game during the tri-series. The same was the case in their two warm-up games.

Enough practice, not enough execution

Despite the results, Pakistan’s head coach Wahab Riaz seemed satisfied with the match practice ahead of the World Cup. Fatima echoed the same idea, as she does not think the results in the buildup affected their performance in the World Cup more than the fact that they could not execute the plans.

"Personally, I think we got a lot of good practice in before coming here, but we still need a response from the team. That's what we need right now. Otherwise, we had some really good practice sessions and preparation," she added.

Pakistan’s bowling has really been the only department where they weren’t as miserable. They posed a half-decent threat to South Africa as they chased 127 and also troubled Bangladesh as they could only reach 123 against them.

Fatima thinks a little support from batters and fielders can help Pakistan overcome their woes.

"I think our bowling was very good, especially the way we started. Nashra [Sandhu] and Sadia [Iqbal] bowled really well, which was awesome. We just need more players to support them because we struggled in other areas," Fatima continued.

"We have good players and they can perform, but we need more contributions from everyone," she concluded.

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