Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez said he was proud of his team’s World Twenty20 campaign despite a semi-final defeat to Sri Lanka, adding the hosts deserved to be in the final.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath proved Sri Lanka’s main weapon with 3-25 after the home side scored a modest 139 in their 20 overs at Premadasa stadium on Thursday.
The defeat is the second successive exit at the semi-final stage of the World Twenty20 for Pakistan following their loss to Australia at the same stage of the 2010 event held in the West Indies.
Pakistan, among the pre-tournament favorites, finished runners-up to India in the inaugural event in 2007 in South Africa before winning the title in England two years later.
“We played positive cricket and I am proud of my team,” Hafeez said. “Sri Lanka deserved to win and they are worthy finalists on the basis of what they have done in this tournament.”
But the skipper admitted the target should have been well within his side’s reach.
“The pitch was turning and it was difficult to score runs and we lost some wickets in the middle and couldn’t stage a comeback. We should have chased that down.”
Hafeez, who opened the innings, top-scored with 42 before he was stumped off Herath as Pakistan slipped from 55-1 to 91-6, eventually reaching 123-7 in their 20 overs.
The Pakistan captain backed out-of-form all-rounder Shahid Afridi, dismissed first ball by Herath. Afridi mustered just 30 runs and took four wickets in the tournament.
“There is no doubt that he still is a match-winner,” said Hafeez. “There is no doubt about his abilities. He is going through very bad form at the moment. He worked hard to come out of it but failed.”
And the skipper said Pakistan’s weakness in chasing was a concern.
“I would not say that we are bad chasers but, yes, it is a concern and we have to sort that out with some planning because it has become a problem.”
Australia and the West Indies meet in the second semi-final on Friday with the final on Sunday, also in Colombo.
So am I 🙂
If the batsman can not stay on the wicket for 20 mins, keep falling one after one then please remove them from cricket and let them play Gulli Dunda. Hafeez even does not bother to include Razzaq into the whole series and should learn some tips from Dhoni, India. Pakistan team has not performed well throughout the tournament but instead they were relying on luck and bowlers to hit sixes.
But captinn ship and handling of team playersis very poor so wining match converted in loosed match.
Hafeez proud of Pakistan team except Afridi who broken his hat and bat after achieving 3rd ducks in tournament .I am still unable to approach the source of approach for this unreliable player.No doubt Pakistani team played well and they should be encouraged except Afridi who is best to lead polio campaign instead of playing serious matches .
Hafeez had a mental block throughout the tournament and wasn’t flexible. He should have played Razzaq & Asa’s Sharia during the T20 matches. May be it is time to evisit his captaincy at year-end
Wrong batting order was the main cause of this defeat. There were better replacements available in place of Imran Nazir (his basics are wrong), Afridi (has been out of form for a long time) and Shoaib Malik (was never a world class cricketer) to include these three players against a powerful international team in a world cup semi-final is to me simply diabolical., only people lacking in common sense and the fundamentals of the game would do it and as a consequence we have a horrible result before us. Exactly like the country being in the grip of thieves and looters so have we the affairs of cricket in the hands of people who know nothing about the game. This whole situation must change from top to bottom. The talent is available which needs proper training, discipline and dedication.
So am I 🙂
If the batsman can not stay on the wicket for 20 mins, keep falling one after one then please remove them from cricket and let them play Gulli Dunda. Hafeez even does not bother to include Razzaq into the whole series and should learn some tips from Dhoni, India. Pakistan team has not performed well throughout the tournament but instead they were relying on luck and bowlers to hit sixes.
What was the reason to keep Afridi and Shoaib Malik in the team why they knew about the condition of the pitch?
But captinn ship and handling of team playersis very poor so wining match converted in loosed match.
dumb bots have you ever held a hard ball cricket bat in your hands? You people are incessantly talking about things that you know absolutely nothing about. You have no idea what it feels like to go out there and play under the immense pressure. they do not owe you anything. They do it for the pride of their country and honor of representing it. couple of words that idiots like you cannot possibly know anything about. Do 5% of what these guys have done for their country before criticizing them. This cricket team has played their hearts out for an ungrateful and stupid nation we as a nation do not deserve this team.
They have been payed to play for Pakistan not doing a charity and have been trained to perform well and stand on the wicket. There are lot of talented people to pickup but the Cricket became infected by the Politics Virus as do other Sports, Ministries and Companies. Please do not expect people to always cheer and appreciate.
I AM TOO PLEASED THAT BEING FROM STUPID NATION YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT CRICKET AND PASS JUDGEMENT ON DUMB BOTS . DEAR EXPERT ALL THE TEAMS WERE PLAYING UNDER PRESSURE.HOW HAFEEZ CONDUCTED AND PLAYED THE TEAM IT MATTE RD A LOT .TOO RAW FOR HIS JOB .WHEN SHAHID IS NOT IN FORM HE SHOULD HAVE GUTS TO REST HIM.THE GUYS WHO WERE SENTENCED TO JAIL AND NOW REGULARLY SHOWING UP ON MEDIA WHAT A NATION ROLE MODELS.
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