'We were not good enough' - Imad Wasim opens up on Pakistan's dingy T20 World Cup 2024 outing

Pakistan had a horrible outing in the T20 World Cup 2024 as they were ousted from the tournament due to losses against USA and India. They registered a lone win against Canada in the third game. Their hopes hinged on the outcome of the game between USA and Ireland and that too was shattered as the game was called off. Ahead of their final game of the tournament, spinner Imad Wasim has termed the tournament as Pakistan’s lowest point.

Wasim was rested for the first game against USA as he contracted a side strain. His availability for an important Indo-Pak clash was under speculation, but the spinner made it to the playing XI. He failed to pick any wicket but was economical in his three-over spell. He had an opportunity to steer Pakistan towards victory batting at the death, but Indian bowlers were spitting fire.

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“I’m giving my personal opinion so don’t make these the headlines. It’s all your mindset. What mindset do you want to play the game with? You either play fire with fire, or you play your way. I personally believe that you should play fire with fire. And even if you lose, you can sit down and say to yourself that on that day we were not good enough,” said Wasim as quoted by The Indian Express. 

We used to rule in T20 cricket: Imad Wasim

Pakistan batters were instrumental in the team's failure as the middle order failed to create any resurgence. Babar Azam, in particular, had a dismal show against the USA and India. Shaheen Afridi lacked impetus on a bowler-friendly New York pitch and Shadab Khan was disappointing with his depleting form. Wasim iterated that key players were subpar when competing with the bigger teams and it played a major role in the team's setback.

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“The problem is our team is so good, our players are so good, that we are good enough to play any kind of cricket. We haven’t tried that but the thing is you have to try that, you have to get rid of the fear of failure. In everything – batting, bowling, fielding, you have to get rid of fear of failure. We compete with the world’s best teams. Their mindset has changed over time. We used to rule in T20 cricket. I think we have moved back a little now,” he added.