Mohammad Rizwan Gives Reason For Pakistan’s Ordinary World Cup Performance

Pakistan’s Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan said that Pakistan’s below-average performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is because they haven’t been able to live up to their expectations. It has nothing to do with their lack of effort. Pakistan is virtually out of the semi-final race after England chose to bat first in the ongoing Pakistan Vs England match in the World Cup.

Pakistan need to chase the target set by England in 2.4 overs in their final league game if they have to march past New Zealand and finish in the fourth position. They have secured 8 points from 8 matches and their Net Run Rate is +0.036 which is well below New Zealand’s +0.743 who are now most probably getting ready to face India in the semi-finals.

The Men In Green started their tournament with 2 wins on the trot, including a World Cup record chase against Sri Lanka, in Hyderabad, where they chased 345. However, the defeat to arch-rivals India in Ahmedabad knocked their wings hard and their flight took a huge blow. Pakistan lost four matches on the trot in a World Cup campaign for the first time in their history and one of them was a shocking defeat against Afghanistan.

Pakistan then tried getting back on track by beating Bangladesh in a dominating display after which they were fortunate enough to snatch a win against New Zealand in a rain-affected match in Bengaluru. The Black Caps amassed 401 on the board but Pakistan won the game by 21 runs via the DLS method after a sensational hundred from opener Fakhar Zaman.

Mohammad Rizwan Says That Pakistan Fired In All Three Departments Against Bangladesh Only

“If I am being honest, our team’s performance hasn’t lived up to our own expectations or our countrymen’s in this tournament. We have not been able to play that kind of quality cricket. That’s the reality. And that’s why we ended up in a situation where we need other results to go our way,” Rizwan told ICC.

“In the context of this World Cup, I think the Bangladesh match was the only game where all our three departments fired together and we won that match easily. In the last 2-3 years, we have generally done well. Because of those results, our countrymen have given us a lot of love and support,” he added.

Mohammad Rizwan also said that the heartbreaking defeat to South Africa did not pull them down but only pushed them to do better. South Africa won the match against Pakistan by one wicket in Chennai in one of the most exciting and thrilling encounters of the World Cup 2023 as they nearly defended 270 runs. Young Mohammad Wasim Jr. came up with an inspired spell along with Shaheen Shah Afridi, who found some form after having been under the black clouds in the tournament.

“The South Africa game was the turning point. The momentum we got after that game was just fantastic. mean, yes, we defeated New Zealand, but the momentum we got was after the South Africa game,” he added.

Pakistan will host the Champions Trophy in 2025 and they will be looking to sign off from the World Cup on a positive note even though they will not make it to the semi-finals. The Men in Green will be disappointed with their performance but they should get over the heartbreaking end quickly as there is a series of ICC events in the future starting from the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.