'I AM UPSET, we are not good': Babar Azam openly admits Pakistan's biggest mistake against USA

In a thrilling encounter at the ICC T20 World Cup, Pakistan set a target of 159/7 against the United States. The USA responded strongly, reaching 159/3 in 18 overs but ended up in a tie with Pakistan after a gripping game. The match proceeded to a Super Over where the USA emerged victorious by 5 runs, with Monank Patel shining as the Player of the Match for his impressive 50 off 38 balls. Both teams displayed excellent cricket skills in this intense Group stage match, thrilling the audience at the Grand Prairie Stadium.

Also Read: Haris Rauf accused of ball tampering by ex-SA cricketer

Babar Azam was not happy with Pakistan's display against the USA in the T20 World Cup

In the T20 World Cup opener, Pakistan suffered a shocking defeat in the Super Over against the USA. Expressing disappointment, Pakistan's captain Babar Azam admitted that his team didn't take the match seriously enough, leading to a subpar performance in all aspects of the game.

The USA, as co-hosts, secured a dramatic victory over Pakistan in the Super Over, causing the first major upset of the ongoing tournament. This unexpected outcome underscored Pakistan's tendency to perform unpredictably, often losing to teams that may appear weaker on paper. Previously, Pakistan had faced a defeat against Zimbabwe in the last T20 World Cup and had been beaten by Ireland in a recent bilateral series, highlighting their inconsistency in international competitions.

"Whenever you come in any tournament, you do the best preparation always. You can say it's a kind of mindset. When you come up against a team like this (associate nations), you relax a little, you take things a little lightly," Babar said at the post-match press conference.

"See, if you don't execute your plan against any team, then whatever team it is, they will beat you. So, I believe that we are not up to the mark in executing. We are doing well in preparation but in the match, we are not executing our plans as a team," he added.

The skipper was critical of his side's performance as Pakistan were simply outplayed by the debutants.

"I am upset. We are not playing good in all three departments." 

Pakistan were reeling at 26/3 but Babar and Shadab Khan managed to score 63 in the next six overs.

When it looked like Pakistan had gained momentum, Nosthush Kenjige claimed the scalps of Shadab and Azam Khan off successive deliveries in the 13th over with Babar following them a couple of overs later "For six overs, we did not capitalise properly, but later on, after the 10th over we got momentum, but again we lost too many wickets and then your momentum is gone," Babar pointed out.

"So, as a batting unit, we need to step it up in the middle and towards the end," he said.

Pakistan didn't excel with the ball either, an aspect which is considered their strong suit. Spinners Shadab and Iftikhar Ahmed conceded 37 runs in four overs.

"We are better than that in bowling, we were not able to take wickets in the first six overs. In the middle overs, your spinner is not taking wickets then pressure is on us." "After 10 overs, we did come back but I think the way they finished game in the Super Over, the credit goes to the US team," Babar said.

Pakistan will take on arch-rivals India next on Sunday.

(With PTI inputs)