Shahid Afridi relates to Pakistani supporters, says the drab show was a painful watch

Following Pakistan’s disastrous defeat against the Men In Blue, Shahid Afridi revealed that he could relate to what’s going through their fans. The former Pakistan captain said the team’s poor show on Sunday night took away all the excitement from what was expected to be a high-octane encounter. Afridi believes, that as a Pakistani supporter, the performance was painful to witness. India convincingly won the match beating the neighbours by a 124 runs margin.

India started the game with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan producing impeccable knocks at the top. Their innings provided the middle order with a much-needed cushion and set the tone for a big total. However, it was surprising to see that Pakistan opt to use a spinner for the new ball.

The decision paved the way for Indian openers to settle in the crease. And were able to take on the attack to the pacers Wahab Riyaz and Mohammad Amir. India finished at 319 runs from 48 overs in the rain-hit game at Edgbaston.

Disappointed Afridi

Describing the loss, Afridi wrote in his column for ICC, “The Indo-Pak Champions Trophy encounter failed to live up to its hype as Pakistan produced a forgettable performance at Edgbaston. As a Pakistani supporter, the drab show was a painful watch indeed as India once again proved that it has a stranglehold over its neighbor that it is in no mood to relinquish. India started as the favorite and played the entire game in the same frame of mind, even as Pakistan crumbled limply.”

However, during the chase, Pakistan looked to be struggling as a batting unit. Just three of their batsmen could manage to play 20 balls, with trivial strike rates of 77, 55 and 77 while the others were obliged to play high-risk cricket.

Pakistan needs to rework their batting if they wish to establish their foothold for the remainder of the tournament. With the loss, the Men In Green gave India their sixth straight win over them in ICC events.

He was critical of the Pakistani skipper’s game plan and the way he strategised the match. “Sarfraz Ahmed won what was a crucial toss in tricky weather conditions. When rain is around, the team batting second gets a huge advantage. Unfortunately though, a poor game plan and shoddy execution, besides abysmal fielding, nullified the advantage,” Afridi wrote.

Sarfraz started with Mohammad Amir at one end and left-arm spinner Imad Wasim at the other end, while the ball was moving around.

“Mohammad Amir bowled a splendid first over and I thought he would strike with the new ball. Strangely though, Sarfraz handed the other new ball to Imad Wasim despite the overcast conditions. The tactic was perplexing for me since the match wasn’t being played in the UAE! Even if Sarfraz wanted to surprise India, he should have deployed his faster bowlers after an over or two from Imad.”

He praised the Indian openers but also expressed that it was Pakistan’s mistake to allow them to settle.

“Players of the calibre of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are very hard to stop if they are allowed to settle early, and that is what Pakistan allowed them to do,” he said. “While the Indian openers negotiated Amir carefully, they gradually got their eye in against Imad. Pakistan missed a trick and for the rest of the Indian innings there was hardly a period where they looked troubled.

“Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh than flayed a tiring attack before Hardik Pandya’s cameo turned the match totally in the defending champion’s favour,” Afridi added.

The team has always been below par on the field, misfield and dropping catches is an attribute, it cost them in this game as well. Hasan Ali grassed Yuvraj Singh and the Indian dasher made him pay for it.

“Pakistan’s fielding was very ordinary too, with easy runs given away inside the circle, besides the dropped chances, which made life tougher for the bowlers. The players looked tense and nervous despite the claims to the contrary before the start of the game,” he said.