Why was Usman Tariq brought late?
Before the match, Usman Tariq was considered to be Pakistan’s trump card, but he was brought to bowl in the 11th over. By then Ishan Kishan had given India a stormy start. Hesson said on this, ‘Usman is most effective when the batsmen try to attack him. We expressed confidence in Shadab Khan and Abrar Ahmed that they will create pressure after the powerplay, but their length was not accurate. Although Tariq took the big wicket of Suryakumar Yadav by giving only 24 runs in 4 overs, but by then the match had slipped out of Pakistan’s hands.
Did Captain Salman Ali Aga make a mistake?
R. The past record at the Premadasa Stadium has been in favor of teams batting first, yet Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl. Mike Hesson defended the decision, saying, ‘There was no mistake in the toss. Instead of slowing down, the pitch had improved in the second innings and the ball was turning less. The main reason for the defeat was poor execution in bowling and Ishan Kishan’s aggressive innings of 77 runs.
The biggest defeat in history and the crisis of Super-8
This is Pakistan’s biggest defeat against India in terms of runs in T20 International history. After this defeat, Pakistan’s net run rate has fallen to -0.403, due to which they have slipped to third place in the points table. Now, to remain in the race for Super-8, Pakistan will have to register a win against Namibia on February 18 at any cost.





