'India ke favour me kaafi cheezein gayi': Shan Masood's huge statement as Pakistan star recalls IND vs PAK T20 WC match
Pakistan batter Shan Masood spoke in detail about Pakistan's loss to India as the side prepares for its final group game against Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup on Sunday.
It will be a blockbuster Sunday in Group 2 of the T20 World Cup, as four of the six teams in the group will be eyeing a place in the semi-finals of the tournament. While South Africa will face Netherlands in the first match, Pakistan meet Bangladesh – both matches will take place in Adelaide. India, meanwhile, face Zimbabwe in Melbourne. Both, India and South Africa will qualify for the semi-finals with a win; however, if any of the two sides drops points (due to rain or loss), Pakistan and Bangladesh will have an opportunity to advance to the next stage.
Pakistan's batter Shan Masood addressed the media in the pre-match press conference on Saturday, where he touched upon different topics concerning the side's performance in the T20 World Cup. Babar Azam's men had faced twin defeats to India and Zimbabwe before making a strong comeback with successive wins over Netherlands and South Africa. A reporter asked Masood about the lack of consistency in the Pakistan side, but Masood insisted that the team only failed to capitalize on crucial moments, which can't be equated to inconsistency.
“Consistency nahi bolunga. Jo crucial moments the dono matches me, vo hamaari taraf nahi aaye. Agar aap India ke khilaaf match dekhein, aakhiri ball pe vo match haare. Ek stage me 28 runs reh gaye the 8 balls pe, ham almost certain the ki ye match hamaare favour me aayega. Jis tarah se hamne target set kiya, jis tarah se bowling ki unn conditions me (I won't say it's inconsistency. We didn't capitalize on crucial moments. We lost in the final ball against India. We thought we would win when India needed 28 runs in 8 balls),” Masood said.
“Agar aap saari cheezein dekhein, India ke favour me bhi kaafi cheezein gayi thi. Toss vo jeete the, batting ki conditions uss vaqt behetar hui thi jab vo batting kar rahe the. Lekin overall, ham vo game achha khele (A lot of things went in India's favour. They won the toss, the batting conditions became better when they came to bat. But overall, we played well)."
The batter also further talked about the loss against Zimbabwe, stating that Pakistan made a number of mistakes but in every game, there were some standout performers for the side.
"Zimbabwe ke khilaaf hamne phases me mistakes ki. Powerplay hamaara bowling ka achha nahi kiya. 30-40 runs kiye unhone pehle 3 over me, vo kaafi costly pade. End me hamne jab 7 out kar diye the 96 pe, vo 130 tak pohoch gaya Zimababwe. Batting me hamaara Powerplay achha nahi gaya, lekin maine aur Shadab ne cover kar liya tha. Hamein uss time game khatm kar dena chahiye tha, lekin agar aap margin dekhein toh 3 ball pe 3 runs chahiye the. (We made mistakes against Zimbabwe. We didn't bowl well in Powerplay. We had Zimbabwe on 96/7, but let them go till 130. We also didn't bat well in the Powerplay but Shadab and I covered it. We should have won us the game. Even after that, we only needed 3 runs in 3 balls).
“Agar hamne situation thodi behetar istemaal ki hote, toh ham 4 me se 4 match jeete hote. Performances ka onus cricketers pe aata hai, consistent hona hota hai, lekin ye team game hai. Har match me kisi na kisi ne kuch na kuch kiya hai. World Cups me ye hi hota hai, contribution zyada matter karti hai, (We could have won 4 out of 4 matches if we had capitalized on such situations. Yes, we have to be consistent, but this is a team game. In all games, someone or the other has performed).” said Masood.
