Saqlain Mushtaq posts soft tweet after Pakistan’s loss to India
Pakistan were pretty ordinary in the first encounter against India in the Asia Cup 2018.
Amid all the bombardments of criticism, the Pakistan cricket team found some solidarity with a former player and he put forward the basic principle that all sportspersons should follow in their lives: winning and losing are part of the game. The cricketer is none other than former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq who also did not forget to congratulate Team India for their thumping win over the arch-rivals in Asia Cup on Wednesday.
Pakistan looked to be better starters after they thrashed Hong Kong, the qualifiers who India struggled to contain, and because of the fact that Pakistan play in the United Arab Emirates more often and also India do not have Virat Kohli in their ranks. Their captain Sarfraz Ahmed also said ahead of the game that India will be under more pressure to perform than them. But when it came to the real performance on the ground, the Pakistanis fell like nine pins.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Pakistan had a horrible start as they lost both their openers with three runs on the board and though Babar Azam (47) and Shoaib Akhtar (43) resurrected the innings for a while by adding 82 runs, Azam’s dismissal off Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling opened the floodgates for India to run through the Pakistan batting and they were all out for a meagre 162 inside 44 overs.
On a placid wicket, it was never going to be enough and especially with Pakistan’s strike bowler Mohammad Amir far off from his striking ability, it was virtually a cakewalk for India. Stand-in captain Rohit Sharma hit a 39-ball 52 and Shikhar Dhawan scored 46 off 54 balls and after they got out Ambati Rayudu (31 not out) and Dinesh Karthik (31 not out) steered India home with 21 overs left in the game.
Here is what Saqlain said:
Mushtaq, who took 496 international wickets for Pakistan and is currently England’s spin consultant, said in a tweet: “Some you win others you lose. Winning and losing is a part of the game! Never mind, Team Pakistan! Congratulations and well done Team India.”
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