Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was left fuming at the Babar Azam-led side after the shocking defeat to T20 World Cup co-hosts, United States of America (USA) on Thursday. USA stunned Pakistan in Super Over after dominating them at the Prairie View Stadium in Dallas. In a recent interaction, Butt tore into the Pakistan players over their lack of intent, saying that the players looked lathargic as if they came to the USA on foot.
“It is what it is. I don’t know what to so. It seemed that the Pakistan team came to USA on foot. Body language was very lethargic and there was no energy. It also seemed like we have been playing cricket for 150 years,” Butt said in a video on Cricket Baithak’s YouTube channel.
Salman Butt : “Shaheen doesn’t know anything other than yorkers with the new ball. If his ball isn’t swinging, he becomes ineffective.”#SportsTrendsCanada | #PAKvUSA | #T20WorldCup2024 | @im_SalmanButt pic.twitter.com/EIgqAOWhNe
— SportsTrends (@SportsTrendsCan) June 6, 2024
Butt also suggested that Pakistan played like minnows against the USA. He also slammed star pacer Shaheen Afridi for his over reliance on yorkers.
“Pakistan boast about their fast bowling but we didn’t bowl a single bouncer against the USA. Is this is the same bowling that Ramiz Raja and others made a hype of. We needed to win the game by taking wickets but they lost only wickets after before crossing 100. Being an associate nation, I thought USA should’ve been under pressure, but in this case it seemed that Pakistan were the minnows. USA looked so relaxed. They had better field placements than us. Shaheen doesn’t seem to have anything other than yorkers. If his ball isn’t swinging, he becomes zero,” he added.
Pakistan’s loss to USA is a major setback in their hopes to qualify for the Super Eight. They now face arch-rivals India in New York on Sunday, with the the Rohit Sharma-led side beating Ireland in their T20 World Cup opener.
Speaking on Pakistan’s loss, Babar said: “First 6 overs while batting we didn’t capitalise. Back to back wickets always put you on the back foot, as a batter you need to step up and build partnerships. We were not up to the mark in the first 6 overs with the ball. Our spinners also did not take wickets in the middle overs so these things cost us. Very hard, all credit to USA, they played better than us in all three departments. Little bit of moisture in the pitch, it was also two-paced. As a professional you need to assess the conditions.”
