T20 World Cup 2024: Demoralised Pakistan eye big win against Canada

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Rizwan (Pic: File Pic)

Shocked by the USA and scarred by arch-rivals India, Pakistan are left with the only option to play according to net run rate demand when they meet Canada in their next T20 World Cup 2024 fixture on Tuesday.

If the Super Over loss against the co-hosts in their opening Group A match was not enough, Pakistan slumped to a six-run loss at the hands of arch-rivals India in a low-scoring T20 World Cup 2024 match here on Sunday.

The "Green Shirts" qualification chances are now fully dependent on winning with huge margins against Canada and Ireland. Other than that, they will hope USA's loss against India and Ireland by huge margins.

Even in that scenario, both the teams will end on four points each and it will boil down to which team has a better net run rate. Hence Pakistan can only pray for divine intervention in the best case scenario.

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024, IND vs PAK: Key highlights from the match

USA after two wins enjoys a healthy run rate of +0.626 and just a victory against Ireland would suffice while Pakistan with a dismal NRR of -0.150 would not only need to win but also by comprehensive margins.

In these two T20 World Cup 2024 matches, Pakistan never looked as a powerful side as they were known to be. With the loss against the debutants USA and arch-rivals India, it seems that there is no clarity in Babar Azam's captaincy. The two factions in the team one led by the skipper with his close friends Mohammed Rizwan and Shadab Khan while the other including, the recently sacked Shaheen Shah Afridi are also making matters worse.

In the concluded T20 World Cup 2024 matches, Pakistan failed to deliver performances in all departments and they will need an exceptional effort in their remaining matches for their qualification chances.

While Babar and Shahdab Khan scored 40 odd runs against the USA to post 159 for 7, Pakistan failed to defend the target, losing the match in Super Over.

And then while chasing an underwhelming 120-run target, none of the Pakistani batters could up the ante as they consumed 59 dot balls to be restricted 113 for 7.

Pakistan's major concern going forward is the underwhelming performance of their batters as the likes of Fakhar Zaman, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed played loose shots to make life difficult for them against India.

Also Read: T20 WC 2024, IND vs PAK: Another thrilling chapter in the greatest rivalry!

Mohammad Rizwan in the attempt to take the side par the line scored 31 runs off 44 deliveries. The only positive that happened for Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024 match against India was the stunning show from their bowlers. Naseem Shah bagged three wickets for 21 runs and Mohammad Amir registered two scalps by conceding 23 runs.

Pakistan will expect their lead pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi to take more responsibilities in their remaining T20 World Cup 2024 matches. He has hardly been able to get swing in conducive conditions.

Going forward Pakistan will have to do some soul searching if they want to revive their faltering campaign. Canada, on the other hand, is placed third in Group A with one win out of two games.

After the seven-wicket loss to the USA, Canada bounced back in style to beat Ireland by 12 runs in their next match. In Navneet Dhaliwal, Canada has a veteran top-order batter who was a part of that 2019 victory over Ireland, and a lot will be riding on him.
Canada will also take heart from the defeat against the USA because they had posted an imposing 194, albeit in a losing cause.

Canada T20 World Cup 2024 Squad: Saad Bin Zafar (captain), Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Navneet Dhaliwal, Kaleem Sana, Dilon Heyliger, Jeremy Gordon, Nikhil Dutta, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Rayyankhan Pathan, Junaid Siddiqui, Dilpreet Bajwa, Shreyas Movva and Rishiv Joshi.

Pakistan T20 World Cup 2024 Squad: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.

(With PTI Inputs)