'He Was Touted To Be The Most Important..'- Dinesh Karthik Blames This Player For Pakistan's World Cup Embarrassment

Pakistan’s World Cup journey is virtually over as they have to beat England by an unimaginable margin to secure a spot in the semi-finals. Former Indian wicket-keeper, Dinesh Karthik, has dissected Pakistan’s performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, pinpointing two players who have let the team down according to him.

While talking on Cricbuzz, Karthik put emphasis on a rather distinctive template followed by the Pakistan cricket team. He acknowledged that while it may differ from those of teams like Australia, South Africa, or England, it doesn’t necessarily imply a flawed approach.

However, Karthik was quick to highlight that Pakistan’s form with the ball was one of the crucial factors for their struggle in this World Cup. He pinpointed Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf as the players who let down Pakistan in this World Cup.

Haris Rauf And Shadab Khan Has Disappointed Pakistan, Says Dinesh Karthik

“They have a template which is not probably followed by the other teams like in Australia or England but it doesn’t mean they have a bad template, what was happening is their lack of form with the ball showed.”

“Haris Rauf was a massive miss for them, he was somebody who was touted to be the most important bowler who could bowl through the middle overs, pick up wickets and at the death, but he leaked a lot of runs in his first and second spell and then it was Shadab Khan, he was the biggest miss for them in this tournament, just couldn’t pick up wickets, was a pale shadow of his past and that really showed why Pakistan struggled,” Dinesh Karthik said.

Haris Rauf who is currently experiencing a huge dip in his form during the ongoing ICC World Cup, has encountered many challenges in maintaining his bowling. In eight matches, he has taken 13 wickets but has conceded 469 runs at an economy rate of 6.79.

The fun fact is that none of the Pakistani batters have crossed 400 runs in this tournament but Haris Rauf alone has conceded more than 450 runs in this tournament and is the bowler with the second-highest runs conceded in this World Cup. Pakistan is currently in the fifth position in this World Cup and they need a literal ‘Miracle’ in order to qualify for the semi-finals.

Pakistan’s qualification scenario includes unimaginable probabilities. The Men In Green have to defeat England by a margin of 287 runs if they bat first. If they bat second, then they have to chase the target set by England in 2.4 overs.