Pakistan skipper Babar Azam rued the mistakes his side made against India and the USA in its earlier Group A matches, even as the former champions bid adieu to the T20 World Cup with a consolation three-wicket win over Ireland in Lauderhill. Babar was there to see Pakistan reaching home against the Irish outfit as he made an unbeaten 32 in a chase of 107 that they nearly botched up. “I think with the bowling, conditions suited our bowlers. But in batting we made few mistakes in the matches against the USA and India. When you lose wickets, the pressure is on you,” said Babar in the post-match presentation ceremony.

“Sir, i’ve said this before that everyone is disheartened (because of our performance). We didn’t play as a team. This is not because of an individual as we lost as a team. It’s not just the captain. I cannot play for every player as there are 11 players. They are in the World Cup because each player has an assigned role. The execution wasn’t there and we have to sit down and work out what needs to be done. I accept that we didn’t play as a team,” Babar said in a post-match press conference.

Babar Azam said “As a captain, I cannot play for every player. We lost as a team”#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/WS8q5QGXuX

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) June 16, 2024

Pakistan lost their first two Group A matches against India and the USA before beating Canada and Ireland.

However, Babar was happy that his team ended the tournament with a victory.

“Yes we finished well. We took early wickets with the ball. But with the bat, we didn’t finish well. We lost back-to-back wickets, but got over the line in the end.” Babar said Pakistan will have to regroup quickly, though did not give any definite answer to his future as the captain.

“Let’s see, what team needs, I’ll be okay with it. We have a good bunch of players, we’ve to go home, chat and see where we lacked, and then come back,” he added.

Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was later adjudged as player of the match, said they did not play the right brand of cricket in the tournament.

“We haven’t played the kind of cricket our country demands, have a few areas to improve on. It’s tough (the result),” said Afridi.

Ireland captain Paul Stirling said they never really got the team balance right.

“It’s getting that balance right. T20…we probably haven’t got that this time around. It’s been a difficult couple of weeks. We’ll go back, regroup and see if we can come back stronger,” he noted.

(With Added Inputs)

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