Pakistan were left heartbroken as they suffered a 23-run defeat against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2022 final on Sunday in Dubai. Despite seizing early advantage by winning the toss and opting to bowl in Dubai, a venue where chasing teams have won more often than not, Pakistan failed to chase 171 as they were bundled out for 147 in 20 overs.
Pakistan looked promising throughout the tournament but it was the poor planning by their top order which backfired and ultimately cost them the Asia Cup title.
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Talking particularly about their batting approach, Pakistan team is highly dependent on their top three batters – Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman. Even in the last T20 World Cup, this trio contributed 70 per cent of Pakistan’s runs. In a scenario where they fail to fire, there aren’t many options in the middle-order to take up the responsibility and this was quite evident when the Men in Green collapsed to 120 for 8 from 93 for 2 in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka.
Here we analyse key mistakes by Pakistan’s top order which led to their title loss:
Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman looked clueless
Two of the top three batters – Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman played poorly in the tournament and that exposed Pakistan’s middle order which failed to deliver in crucial situations.
Talking about Babar then, Pakistan skipper endured a horrific tournament as he was unable to stamp his authority. In six innings at the tournament, Azam contributed just 68 runs at an average and strike rate of 11.33 and 107.93 respectively.
Coming to Fakhar, the 32-year-old player continues to struggle at the No. 3 position in the shortest format. Zaman scored 96 runs in six innings at an average and strike rate of 16 and 103.22 respectively in the Asia Cup 2022.
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Pakistan’s innings started on backfoot
The pairing of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, which is usually reliable and even helped Pakistan thrash India by 10 wickets in the last T20 World Cup, failed to deliver in the Asia Cup courtesy of the Pakistan skipper.A mere 28 remained their highest combined contribution for the opening wicket, and given that the pair didn’t come out firing on all cylinders, Pakistan started their innings on the back foot in most of their matches in this tournament including the final, where Azam scored just 5 runs before getting dismissed by Pramod Madushan.
Pakistan could have tried to open with Rizwan and Zaman, who can play good shots in the powerplay, but the Men in Green didn’t change their approach for which they had to pay the price.
Conservative approach by top order
The conservative approach by Pakistan openers in the first five overs has been their major concern. Rarely do we see Babar and Rizwan finding their range early, which is somewhat understandable considering the series of unreliable batters that follows them. However, their propensity to play safe can create pressure on the batters below and it was evident numerous times in the tournament.
Even Rizwan, who ended the tournament as the top scorer, scored most of his runs through singles. He scored almost a run-a-ball 40 against India as well. Also, the sluggish approach by the Pakistan openers denied number-three batter Zaman a chance to display his wrecking skills in powerplay.
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Moreover, Rizwan particularly has been poor with his lethargic approach, which is like a slow poison for a team in the T20 format. Even in the final, Rizwan played at a strike rate of 110 after getting set in a 171-run chase and that just created pressure on Pakistan as they lost a bundle of wickets in the death overs while trying to hit big shots.
Rizwan might have finished the tournament as the leading run-getter with the help of three fifties and scored a total of 281 runs at an average of 56.20, but throughout the tournament, his strike rate was criticised, which was as low as 117.57.
Also, Rizwan lacked the ability to finish games for his team in the Asia Cup 2022. The wicketkeeper-batter lost his wicket at crucial junctions in several games which hurt Pakistan on numerous occasions, including the final.
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