(Reuters) – Pakistan captain Babar Azam defended his decision to play an extra fast bowler in Thursday’s shock Twenty20 World Cup defeat by Zimbabwe but said the 2009 champions were not up to the mark in all departments after their campaign was left in tatters.
Paceman Mohammad Wasim’s inclusion at the expense of batter Asif Ali looked to have paid off initially after he claimed 4-24 to restrict Zimbabwe to 130-8 but a batting collapse meant that Pakistan managed only 129-8 in 20 overs at Perth Stadium.
It was Pakistan’s second defeat in as many games following a heart-breaking last-ball loss to arch-rivals India and they now face a must-win game against the winless Netherlands on Sunday to keep alive their slim semi-final hopes.
“It’s very hard as a team or as a captain. We weren’t up to the mark in all three departments, but we’ll sit and discuss the mistakes and then we’ll come back strongly,” Babar said.
Babar said he did not think an additional fast bowler had left their middle-order weakened.
“This pitch required fast bowlers, so we had that in the planning and that’s why we had an extra fast bowler,” Babar said, before urging his team to regroup quickly.
“To be honest, it’s hard, but we have two days and we’ll have a sit together and discuss.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
