Sir Vivian Richards Disappointed With Pakistan's Performance In World Cup 2023

Pakistan’s World Cup campaign is virtually over after New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka in a recent encounter and occupied the fourth position with a superior NRR. West Indies Cricket legend, Sir Vivian Richards expressed his utter disappointment with Pakistan’s performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

In a recent column for the International Cricket Council (ICC), Sir Vivian Richards emphasized the exceptional abilities that the Pakistan national team possess. However, they have made their World Cup journey unnecessarily challenging.

Richards highlighted the talent that is there at Pakistan’s disposal, they should have already booked a spot for the semi-finals. However, the performances have not been the best for Pakistan and that is one of the reasons that they struggled in this World Cup.

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“I can’t help thinking that with the talent they have, they should have already sealed their spot. I have seen up close in recent years through my coaching work [Pakistan Super League] how much ability exists in that squad but they have made life hard for themselves – I think they are a more talented squad than their place in the table would suggest. They can beat the very best on their day so there may be some punches left in that team,” said Richards.

Pakistan Is Virtually Out Of The Semi-Final Race

New Zealand’s win over Sri Lanka took them to 10 points with an NRR of +0.743. This means that Pakistan will have to enter some kind of a cheat code mode in order to have a chance of making it into the Semis and England is not a team that would want to suffer any more humiliation in the World Cup after already having a terrible campaign

Pakistan is currently fifth in the points table and they have a net run rate of +0.036. Pakistan have to beat England by a margin of 287 runs if they bat first. If they chase then they have to chase the target with 284 balls to spare which means that it is virtually impossible to attain these numbers against England. Pakistan will have to hope for a miracle in order to qualify for the semi-finals.

In short, the World Cup journey for Babar Azam and the team comes to an end. They have had a forgettable campaign, losing four consecutive matches after winning the first two. They showed a glimmer of hope after winning their last two matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively. However, now a spot in the semi-finals for Pakistan is like extracting 287 liters of blood and sweat from those eleven men who will take the field against England on Saturday.