"Unfortunate that despite playing good cricket in 4 games we didn't qualify for SFs": Sarfaraz Ahmed

[MenInG]

"Unfortunate that despite playing good cricket in 4 games we didn't qualify for SFs": Sarfaraz Ahmed

Pakistan captain speaking after the match

"Its very unfortunate that despite playing good cricket in the last 4 games we did not qualify for the semi-finals"

"The boys played really good cricket after the India match, and did well in all three departments of the game"

"We started the competition by trying one combination initially but after the India game Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Sohail made good comebacks"

"We need to sit down together as we have 2 months off and do a lot of work"

"If your team is winning, everything is fine - I would like to give credit to my team for the way batsmen responded well such as Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam and Haris Sohail; Also the way the bowlers Amir, Shadab and Shaheen responded was very good"

"The way Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled to take 6 wickets today is one of the best bowling spells I have seen in a long time"

 

[jnaveen1980]

Not a coincidence. Pak think tank apparently didn't pay attention to NRR in the early part of the tournament. By the time they started worrying about NRR it was too late.

 

[Chokli]

Not a coincidence. Pak think tank apparently didn't pay attention to NRR in the early part of the tournament. By the time they started worrying about NRR it was too late.

I don't think they even knew NRR existed.

 

[saeed5646]

Not a coincidence. Pak think tank apparently didn't pay attention to NRR in the early part of the tournament. By the time they started worrying about NRR it was too late.

A huge lesson for future but then again we are asking too much of sarfraz

 

[shane]

For the first time in a long time Pakistan can leave a World cup with its head held high.

I think what is really disappointing is that, given their unpredictability, everyone knows they had a great chance of winning it had they made the semis.

 

[srh]

Pakistan captain speaking after the match

"Its very unfortunate that despite playing good cricket in the last 4 games we did not qualify for the semi-finals"

"The boys played really good cricket after the India match, and did well in all three departments of the game"

"We started the competition by trying one combination initially but after the India game Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Sohail made good comebacks"

"We need to sit down together as we have 2 months off and do a lot of work"

"If your team is winning, everything is fine - I would like to give credit to my team for the way batsmen responded well such as Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam and Haris Sohail; Also the way the bowlers Amir, Shadab and Shaheen responded was very good"

"The way Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled to take 6 wickets today is one of the best bowling spells I have seen in a long time"

you did not play good cricket in 4 games; remember you barely beat Afghanistan

 

[Zaz]

Its a shame they been playing well last few games and shouldve kept an eye on the nrr

Wi game after initial collapse couldve looked to drag it out and get to 150 etc

Aus game sarfy shouldve hung on till end

Nz game shouldve won with 4-5 overs to spare

Should never had made the afghanistan game as difficult as it became Shouldve won a lot more comfortably


There were certainly missed opportunities where nrr couldve been improved

 

[Markhor]

That West Indies match was the kicker. If we even just lost that match with some modicum of respectability, we could've squeezed through. But our NRR never recovered from that walloping.

 

[xbronze]

Actually I am with Sarfaraz on this. It is commendable how Pakistan fought back from a near hopeless situation. This world cup and cricket the sport would have been enriched if Pakistan were in the top 4. They are deserving semi finalists.

Now I feel that Aus India England Pakistan are most deserving semi finalists.

Looking back at this tournament, and the mathematically impossible odds that were given to Pakistan to qualify for semis EVEN if they defeat Bangldesh...something about the way teams qualify for semis just doesnt feel right.

One bad match against Weat Indies by Pakistan, and that became un unerasable run rate deficit, no matter how hard and how many matches Pakistan won.

I feel ICC needs to revisit the format and elimination methods they employ to trim the playing field in future tournaments. Cricket lovers have been robbed of some passionate contests in the semis.

Once again something doesnt feel right about Pakistans elimination.

 

[PaceOverEverything]

In the 2011 World Cup Captain Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi demonstrated difficulty understanding the recent changes to the ODI rules regarding power-plays. His mismanagement of the power-plays would result in Pakistan losing in the semi-finals. Is there a common cause?

 

[WengerOut]

It is safe to say WI knocked out Pakistan from the WC

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

It is safe to say WI knocked out Pakistan from the WC

Don't forget the role of the English weather. Cost us more than 2 points.

 

[faisaltep]

From cricket desk....some valid points
Whosoever thinks Pakistan did NOT deserve to be in the semis and New Zealand deserved the spot, have a look at the following:

Both teams finished on 11 points
NZ won against AFG, BAN, SA, SL and WI
PAK won against AFG, BAN, ENG, NZ and SA

NZ: Just 1 win against top 6 ODI sides i.e. SA
PAK: 3 wins against top 6 ODI teams like ENG, NZ and SA

H2H: Pakistan beat New Zealand

Washout:
NZ got 1 point against No.2 ranked ODI side
PAK got 1 point against No.8 ranked ODI team

New Zealand's first 4 matches out of the 6 were against AFG, BAN, SL and WI while Pakistan's first 7 matches did NOT have a match vs AFG or BAN.

Therefore, New Zealand is LUCKY enough to be in the semis despite close encounters with South Africa (de Kock did not take a review against Williamson), West Indies (Brathwaite's miscalculation) and Bangladesh (Musfiqur's missed run out).

 

[Boi]

We played some good cricket for sure. Took some balls to come back from that India defeat with 4 wins. Other Pakistani teams of the past would’ve fallen apart with infighting and whatnot.

 

[Amoeba]

Let's not forget NZ did to SL what WI did to us. That double whammy effectively kicked us out.

However lets not forget that NZ were 80-5 against us. We should have bowled them out for less than 150. That 80 runs either way would have got us through probably. Also Aus 80-5 against the Windies only to recover and win. Not expecting us to win but were let down by the lower order on the day - by the likes of Hafeez, Imad and Shadab.

 

[Mamoon]

Nothing unfortunate, you played pathetic cricket against Afghanistan. Today’s win doesn’t count either. Bangladesh were already out and Pakistan didn’t have any pressure on them because they were basically out as well.

If today’s match would have been a virtual quarter-final, it would have been very close. The fact that Sarfraz appears to be gloating over this soft win exposes his mental state.

 

[Deewana]

TBH this victory vs Bangladesh has hurt me even more
We had unbelievable amount of bad luck this tournament
from washout vs SL to Braithwates dismal everything..
ultimately ICC is the ultimate loser, they would be more than happy to have Pak in SFs.
NZ are one lucky side..
this hurts

 

[Deewana]

Actually I am with Sarfaraz on this. It is commendable how Pakistan fought back from a near hopeless situation. This world cup and cricket the sport would have been enriched if Pakistan were in the top 4. They are deserving semi finalists.

Now I feel that Aus India England Pakistan are most deserving semi finalists.

Looking back at this tournament, and the mathematically impossible odds that were given to Pakistan to qualify for semis EVEN if they defeat Bangldesh...something about the way teams qualify for semis just doesnt feel right.

One bad match against Weat Indies by Pakistan, and that became un unerasable run rate deficit, no matter how hard and how many matches Pakistan won.

I feel ICC needs to revisit the format and elimination methods they employ to trim the playing field in future tournaments. Cricket lovers have been robbed of some passionate contests in the semis.

Once again something doesnt feel right about Pakistans elimination.

exactly
i have seen Pakistan being eliminated from a number of events and icc events since i started watching cricket in 2004, but this time something just doesn't feel right

 

[Abdulm123]

exactly
i have seen Pakistan being eliminated from a number of events and icc events since i started watching cricket in 2004, but this time something just doesn't feel right

This tournament is rigged. Im being for real this time, this whole tournament is fishy af, england and India getting flat pitches and teams like SL and Afghanistan and SA getting the wackest and dodgiest pitches. Also the Pak vs Sl should not have been called off, the pitch and outfield were fine and the weather was beautiful for a day of cricket but the umpires were like "wet outfield" even though it was all fine. England are going to get belters in the knockouts and as much I dont want to admit this, England will win. It will be a England and India final and the pitches will be flat and give no bowler support. Also the umpires were always in favor of Australia and England and cheated West Indies and Bangladesh. Also the outcome the toss had on the game was whack.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

Nothing unfortunate, you played pathetic cricket against Afghanistan. Today’s win doesn’t count either. Bangladesh were already out and Pakistan didn’t have any pressure on them because they were basically out as well.

If today’s match would have been a virtual quarter-final, it would have been very close. The fact that Sarfraz appears to be gloating over this soft win exposes his mental state.

If this is the case then which of Pak team's win count.
Ag Afgh which was already out
Ag SA which was already out

 

[Mamoon]

If this is the case then which of Pak team's win count.
Ag Afgh which was already out
Ag SA which was already out

There was pressure on us to win against Afghanistan and South Africa because we were still in contention for the semi-final. Today, Bangladesh were officially out but so were Pakistan, save for the 0.0000001% possibility. Apart from Fakhar, our overall body-language was that of a team that had a huge weight taken of its shoulders and were playing with freedom.

 

[Pete Rose]

Notwithstanding long winded drivel from the Opus Dei crowd, Pakistan did well here considered they carried passengers in every game (hafeez and Malik). I think he should continue as captain but for that he has to earn his place in team as batsman and bat at 4

 

[shariqnoor]

Yeah Sarfraz but the world cup consisted of 9 games, not 4.

 

[PakPremi]

you did not play good cricket in 4 games; remember you barely beat Afghanistan

So did India against Afghan. And Aus against Bangla, and England lost to SeiLanka. Close games happens with all teams.

 

[PakPremi]

Yeah Sarfraz but the world cup consisted of 9 games, not 4.

5th rained off. Two Pak lost to much better team, especially in batting and fielding. So only WestIndies game should be the one they should be criticised for.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

you did not play good cricket in 4 games; remember you barely beat Afghanistan

4 or 3

Or do you think that Sarafraz 11 was responsible for the rain too.

 

[sshakir411]

The team showed a lot of heart to comeback and win 4 tough games on the trot. It’s not easy turning around your luck after getting abused and written off. Important lessons of dropping passengers in the team like Malik, Hassan early and starting the tournament strong. It could’ve been far worse but glad the boys put up a decent show. Let’s see where we go from here and what changes are made.

 

[PakPremi]

There was pressure on us to win against Afghanistan and South Africa because we were still in contention for the semi-final. Today, Bangladesh were officially out but so were Pakistan, save for the 0.0000001% possibility. Apart from Fakhar, our overall body-language was that of a team that had a huge weight taken of its shoulders and were playing with freedom.

There was still pressure to beat Bangldesh to save embarrassment of being beaten 5th time in row by them, and also to win on high to save themselves from those that will decide fate of many players including the captain.

 

[Sadevdesai]

Nothing Drastic will happen, like CANNING bunch of Deadwoods, there will few new excuses .... and the life goes on !!!!!!!!!

 

[Mamoon]

There was still pressure to beat Bangldesh to save embarrassment of being beaten 5th time in row by them, and also to win on high to save themselves from those that will decide fate of many players including the captain.

That pressure was insignificant compared to the pressure and expectations of keeping the tournament alive.

 

[PakLFC]

We didn't deserve to be in the semi's. By the time we came to good it was too late. Needed another major scalp to merit a place in the semi's. Damn the rained off match versus Sri Lanka, a win there would have made all the difference.

 

[Aman]

That's 4 more games than us

 

[PakPremi]

The team showed a lot of heart to comeback and win 4 tough games on the trot. It’s not easy turning around your luck after getting abused and written off. Important lessons of dropping passengers in the team like Malik, Hassan early and starting the tournament strong. It could’ve been far worse but glad the boys put up a decent show. Let’s see where we go from here and what changes are made.

It was wrong to select Malik in squad and Sarfraz bad luck that he let him down in three games as well as Hasan Ali. Bad decision by Management to drop Haris after one failure against West Indies.

 

[PakPremi]

That pressure was insignificant compared to the pressure and expectations of keeping the tournament alive.

Nevertheless still pressure against a team who has beaten us 4 times consecutively and with some bowlers and batsmen in good form. Pressure of be izati is never insignificant.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

Good job Sarfaraz!
This team is much better than what Misbah & Azhar left.

 

[Chokli]

Nothing unfortunate, you played pathetic cricket against Afghanistan. Today’s win doesn’t count either. Bangladesh were already out and Pakistan didn’t have any pressure on them because they were basically out as well.

If today’s match would have been a virtual quarter-final, it would have been very close. The fact that Sarfraz appears to be gloating over this soft win exposes his mental state.

India played pathetic Cricket against Afghanistan as well.

 

[Mamoon]

India played pathetic Cricket against Afghanistan as well.

They were still much better than us and they have also won all but one game. What is the point of comparing our performance against Afghanistan with them? They are lightyears ahead of us.

 

[Chokli]

They were still much better than us and they have also won all but one game. What is the point of comparing our performance against Afghanistan with them? They are lightyears ahead of us.

Yes they are better than us but both of our performances were pathetic against Afghanistan.

Pakistan did well in this tournament and exceeded expectations. You said it yourself; 13 match losing streak yet ended up in the top 5 and nearly qualified if it wasn't for rain.

Your comments against Pakistan not being a good team are justified and have merit but you also need to applaud them when they do well.

 

[Mamoon]

Yes they are better than us but both of our performances were pathetic against Afghanistan.

Pakistan did well in this tournament and exceeded expectations. You said it yourself; 13 match losing streak yet ended up in the top 5 and nearly qualified if it wasn't for rain.

Your comments against Pakistan not being a good team are justified and have merit but you also need to applaud them when they do well.

But they didn't do well. Their campaign ended with the destruction of their NRR in the very first game. They have a couple of good games because Law of Averages eventually caught up with them. You cannot continue with a 100% losing record forever. At some point, you are bound to catch a superior team on a bad day and that is what happened after 14 odd games.

Doing well would have been qualifying for the semi-finals on their own might.

 

[RickyG]

Yeah Sarfraz but the world cup consisted of 9 games, not 4.

8* games. Not every team gets to play 9. This format is fine until games start getting rained out.

 

[RickyG]

But they didn't do well. Their campaign ended with the destruction of their NRR in the very first game. They have a couple of good games because Law of Averages eventually caught up with them. You cannot continue with a 100% losing record forever. At some point, you are bound to catch a superior team on a bad day and that is what happened after 14 odd games.

Doing well would have been qualifying for the semi-finals on their own might.

Chokli is right. You're a hypocrite. You can either judge Pakistan based on expectations from a garbage team or say that this is good team who didn't do well. You can't have it both ways. If a 7th/8th ranked team finished 5th and marginally missed out on semis then that's a decent result.

Even if they made the semis, you would've called it a fluke so does it even matter?

I mean you're the guy that defended Afghan fans after the attack on Pakistani fans. And that's despite the fact, you yourself have made racist posts about them in the past.

You will literally literally criticize for the sake of criticizing. It's actually pathetic how negative you are. Pakistan's win against Bangladesh doesn't count because they were already eliminated? So was Pakistan. This was a garbage team remember so did you really expect Pakistan to beat Bangladesh by 316 runs?

 

[PakPremi]

Chokli is right. You're a hypocrite. You can either judge Pakistan based on expectations from a garbage team or say that this is good team who didn't do well. You can't have it both ways. If a 7th/8th ranked team finished 5th and marginally missed out on semis then that's a decent result.

Even if they made the semis, you would've called it a fluke so does it even matter?

I mean you're the guy that defended Afghan fans after the attack on Pakistani fans. And that's despite the fact, you yourself have made racist posts about them in the past.

You will literally literally criticize for the sake of criticizing. It's actually pathetic how negative you are. Pakistan's win against Bangladesh doesn't count because they were already eliminated? So was Pakistan. This was a garbage team remember so did you really expect Pakistan to beat Bangladesh by 316 runs?

Points well put. As I said Pak just paid price for losing WI game very badly.

 

[Chokli]

But they didn't do well. Their campaign ended with the destruction of their NRR in the very first game. They have a couple of good games because Law of Averages eventually caught up with them. You cannot continue with a 100% losing record forever. At some point, you are bound to catch a superior team on a bad day and that is what happened after 14 odd games.

Doing well would have been qualifying for the semi-finals on their own might.

How is coming out at number 5 not doing well when they've come off borderline minnow like performances ever since the CT 2017?

 

[Usman Chadda]

But they didn't do well. Their campaign ended with the destruction of their NRR in the very first game. They have a couple of good games because Law of Averages eventually caught up with them. You cannot continue with a 100% losing record forever. At some point, you are bound to catch a superior team on a bad day and that is what happened after 14 odd games.

Doing well would have been qualifying for the semi-finals on their own might.

Should I bring up your prediction for Pakistan in this World Cup, or will you keep quiet for once?

You will be humiliated, just a heads up.

 

[PakLFC]

If only the people in charge cared about the country as much as you do.

There are many who do but they have no voice. All the poor in Pak love the country, they need a platform to show there love for the land. There are also many Pak fans who are only temporary supporters as well only in it during the good times.

 

[Snatch]

He should have been clearer and said Pakistan played some good and bad cricket. That's the truth, and that's the reason they didn't make it ultimately.

 

[Ami]

Pakistan were brilliant, couldnt care less what some posters think here...

 

[topspin]

Nothing unfortunate, you played pathetic cricket against Afghanistan. Today’s win doesn’t count either. Bangladesh were already out and Pakistan didn’t have any pressure on them because they were basically out as well.

If today’s match would have been a virtual quarter-final, it would have been very close. The fact that Sarfraz appears to be gloating over this soft win exposes his mental state.

Whilst Pakistan didn't help themselves, NZ were fortunate for the two main reasons:

1) Their rained off match was against India, who were strong favourites to win that contest
2) Pakistan's rained off match was against Sri Lanka, who were big underdogs going into this match

 

[Snatch]

Whilst Pakistan didn't help themselves, NZ were fortunate for the two main reasons:

1) Their rained off match was against India, who were strong favourites to win that contest
2) Pakistan's rained off match was against Sri Lanka, who were big underdogs going into this match

Pakistan need to look at themselves, and NOT keep looking at NZ if they want to improve.

Get over this victimhood mentality and try to become a better cricket side.

You weren't good enough to make the semis, as indicated by finishing with an overall negative NRR.

Take it on the chin like a man, and try to improve your cricket skills, not your moaning skills.

 

[Revolution]

Pak is unpredictable team. Don't have consistency.

 

[Balthazar]

The games against WI and Afghanistan were an embarrassing display. So rightfully Pakistan didn't deserve to qualify for the semis.

 

[khan_aa]

The games against WI and Afghanistan were an embarrassing display. So rightfully Pakistan didn't deserve to qualify for the semis.

dhonis batting was also an embarassing display for most games for india. by your logic, india should not be in the SF. Or at the least, dhoni should 'rightfully' be not in the team.

great logic!

 

[pillionrider]

Nassser Hussain also has only one century in ODIs. He isnt right about everything.

Thanks for your participation on this thread.

Sure. He isn't right about everything but he's one of the 2 best commentators right now. And also captained England.

 

[docteurmanish]

You lost against aussie and india
U lost against West Indies

I mean why are u crying abt things that ain’t in your control -

You could have just won one more game and u would be in semis

Is New Zealand lucky - sure . Is pak better - yes .pak has very good days and pak has very bad days - definition of inconsistency

New Zealand did what it always does - good strong but not exceptional performance consistently .

Besides it’s a moot point to be no 4 or 5

By your logic india deserves to be no 1 - india game got washed out against nz else we would be at higher nrr and equal points as Aussies rt now and perhaps facing nz or pak in semis - but we are facing England and we ain’t complaining .

 

[Indiafan]

Actually your post exhibits your mental state clearly. Delusional and psychotic.

I think people will admit New Zealand didn't deserve to be in semis because they were lucky if you admit Pakistan didn't deserve to win in 92 because they were lucky in group stages

 

[happydavy]

Forget about the windies game, Pakistan had a bad day and it happened. Where Pakitstan fault lies is that post their win against kiwis, they were only dependant upon luck (India beating eng hope) and had no other strategy. I feel they gave up too soon and were more interested in shifting the blame to either the format, or bad luck or India. They should have gone for the kill against Afghanistan and try to win the match by a huge margin but they barely won. That's where they lost out. Had they won against Afghanistan within 30 overs, I am sure the NRR target against Bdesh would have been in the realms of possibilities.

 

[Savak]

People criticizing the team for batting slowly against NZ, Afghanistan are talking through their backsides, Satner was turning the ball quickly with bounce and Afghanistan had very good spinners which they fully exploited to their benefit given the slow turning pitch they had. There was no way the team could have aimed for fast runs and risked losing the games

 

[Balthazar]

dhonis batting was also an embarassing display for most games for india. by your logic, india should not be in the SF. Or at the least, dhoni should 'rightfully' be not in the team.

great logic!

When your team's performance against the minnows is embarrassing, then they don't deserve to qualify for the next stage.

 

[Thinking_Cap]

From cricket desk....some valid points
Whosoever thinks Pakistan did NOT deserve to be in the semis and New Zealand deserved the spot, have a look at the following:

Both teams finished on 11 points
NZ won against AFG, BAN, SA, SL and WI
PAK won against AFG, BAN, ENG, NZ and SA

NZ: Just 1 win against top 6 ODI sides i.e. SA
PAK: 3 wins against top 6 ODI teams like ENG, NZ and SA

H2H: Pakistan beat New Zealand

Washout:
NZ got 1 point against No.2 ranked ODI side
PAK got 1 point against No.8 ranked ODI team

New Zealand's first 4 matches out of the 6 were against AFG, BAN, SL and WI while Pakistan's first 7 matches did NOT have a match vs AFG or BAN.

Therefore, New Zealand is LUCKY enough to be in the semis despite close encounters with South Africa (de Kock did not take a review against Williamson), West Indies (Brathwaite's miscalculation) and Bangladesh (Musfiqur's missed run out).

Agree - the Aussies will be much happier with NZ in the semis than Pakistan!

 

[PakPremi]

When your team's performance against the minnows is embarrassing, then they don't deserve to qualify for the next stage.

Since India was embarrassing against India, despite mean they do not deserve to qualify. Similar Englands against SriLanka. They do as they are a good teams; big teams can lose against smaller teams

 

[Pakhs]

Pakistan were a bit unlucky because they beat two of the semi-finalist and still didnt go through due to losing heavily against WI and rained out match against Sri-Lanka.

 

[IMMY69]

We were unlucky with the toss against Afghanistan and NZ..

On the other hand we should have batted first against the Aussies...

Overall we beat to of semi finalists, had a game we were expected to win rained off so yes I think we were unlucky.

 

[Mamoon]

Chokli is right. You're a hypocrite. You can either judge Pakistan based on expectations from a garbage team or say that this is good team who didn't do well. You can't have it both ways. If a 7th/8th ranked team finished 5th and marginally missed out on semis then that's a decent result.

Pakistan entered the World Cup as a 6th ranked team and finished in the 5th position, thanks largely to South Africa having an absolute shocker, who have only managed to beat Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. You can call me a hypocrite if you want, but how is that a good a result? A good result would have been Pakistan qualifying for the semi-finals, and they didn't do it because they were unlucky; they didn't because they showed their trademark incompetence against West Indies which ruined their NRR.

Even if they made the semis, you would've called it a fluke so does it even matter?

There is a reason why Pakistan didn't make the semi-finals. This format is not designed for circus teams. It gives value to consistency. This isn't a favourable format for a team like Pakistan that is never two games away from doing something very stupid. With every team playing each other once and NRR coming into play, the odds are firmly stacked against mediocre sides in this format.

I mean you're the guy that defended Afghan fans after the attack on Pakistani fans. And that's despite the fact, you yourself have made racist posts about them in the past.

I didn't defend the Afghan fans who acted like hooligans. I was disgusted by the sickening bigotry and the shameless stereotyping that was on display here. Instead of criticising the few individuals who acted like idiots, posters were insulting Afghanistan as a country. If the shoe was on the other foot and a bunch of Pakistani fans would have acted like that, would people be happy with Pakistan as a country getting dragged into it? Of course not.

Yes I am guilty of stereotyping in the past, but then I learned more about Pakistan's role in the demise of Afghanistan's society and why there is a general anti-Pakistan sentiment in Afghanistan. I also believe that bigotry should not be encouraged in any form. Isn't that the sensible thing to do?

You will literally literally criticize for the sake of criticizing. It's actually pathetic how negative you are. Pakistan's win against Bangladesh doesn't count because they were already eliminated? So was Pakistan. This was a garbage team remember so did you really expect Pakistan to beat Bangladesh by 316 runs?

Who mentioned beating Bangladesh by 316 runs? My point is that if this game wasn't a dead-rubber, it could have been very close. Pakistan players played with freedom today and their body-language was of a team that had a huge weight lifted of their shoulders. We may or may not have beaten Bangladesh by such a big margin in a crunch game, but I am leaning towards the latter because I have no faith in this team and they leave no stone unturned in ensuring that my faith remains weak.

 

[Mamoon]

Should I bring up your prediction for Pakistan in this World Cup, or will you keep quiet for once?

You will be humiliated, just a heads up.

Considering your keenness to humiliate me, you would think Pakistan have won the World Cup. I don't exactly remember what I predicted, but I probably would have said that Pakistan are unlikely to make the semi-finals and cannot beat the better teams unless they catch them on their off-days.

Keep quiet? I suggest you look in the mirror. You delusions with respect to the capabilities of this team are well-documented, and they have left you embarrassed multiple times over the last two years. The Asia Cup was of course the zenith of your embarrassment but you chose to not learn from that experience.

 

[Mamoon]

Whilst Pakistan didn't help themselves, NZ were fortunate for the two main reasons:

1) Their rained off match was against India, who were strong favourites to win that contest
2) Pakistan's rained off match was against Sri Lanka, who were big underdogs going into this match

I think it is best if we focus on the matches took place rather than the hypothetical scenarios that make Pakistan look like a victim of bad luck. I won't call Sri Lanka big underdogs going into the Pakistan match. They are capable of beating a 6th ranked team that lost to West Indies in 13.4 overs and had to rely on umpiring mistakes to limp over the finish line against Afghanistan. Sure, Pakistan would have had the edge, but it wasn't a forgone conclusion by any means.

 

[Mamoon]

How is coming out at number 5 not doing well when they've come off borderline minnow like performances ever since the CT 2017?

A 6th ranked team finishing 5th is not doing well according to my dictionary. We have performed par to our ranking - we have had a couple of good wins but we have had humiliating performances as well, which is what you expect from a 6th ranked team.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Pakistan challenged the top teams and even won a few games against them. They should be proud of this world cup performance.

 

[Mamoon]

Should I bring up your prediction for Pakistan in this World Cup, or will you keep quiet for once?

You will be humiliated, just a heads up.

Considering your desperation to humiliate me, you would think that Pakistan have won the World Cup. I don't exactly remember what I predicted, but it must be along the lines that Pakistan are unlikely to make the semi-finals, and cannot beat the superior sides unless the latter punch below their weight.

Your delusions with respect to the capabilities of this team are well-documented, and let's not even talk about humiliation. This team has left you humiliated multiple times in the last two years. The Asia Cup of course was the zenith of your humiliation, but unfortunately you chose to not learn anything from it.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

No, it's not unfortunate. The reason you got spanked by Windies was because you were talking about India instead of concentrating on your next match. You lost against Australia by choosing to bowl first as if you're some amazing chasing team and were going to out-battle Australia mentally. And you'd lost to India before the match even started because you'd been yapping about it all month while you didn't a hear a peep from India's camp.

 

[khan_aa]

Sure. He isn't right about everything but he's one of the 2 best commentators right now. And also captained England.

he can be the king of england and your wife. it still does not mean that he's right about everything.

him being captain in test matches (and a poor one in ODIs) or a great commentator does not mean he is prone to error.

 

[Markhor]

From cricket desk....some valid points
Whosoever thinks Pakistan did NOT deserve to be in the semis and New Zealand deserved the spot, have a look at the following:

Both teams finished on 11 points
NZ won against AFG, BAN, SA, SL and WI
PAK won against AFG, BAN, ENG, NZ and SA

NZ: Just 1 win against top 6 ODI sides i.e. SA
PAK: 3 wins against top 6 ODI teams like ENG, NZ and SA

H2H: Pakistan beat New Zealand

Washout:
NZ got 1 point against No.2 ranked ODI side
PAK got 1 point against No.8 ranked ODI team

New Zealand's first 4 matches out of the 6 were against AFG, BAN, SL and WI while Pakistan's first 7 matches did NOT have a match vs AFG or BAN.

Therefore, New Zealand is LUCKY enough to be in the semis despite close encounters with South Africa (de Kock did not take a review against Williamson), West Indies (Brathwaite's miscalculation) and Bangladesh (Musfiqur's missed run out).

The format doesn't give you bonus points for beating a top 6 opponent. You have to beat the lower ranked opponents too - and not only did we fail to do so vs West Indies, but we got absolutely hammered by them.

It was inexcusable not even to take the game deep to minimise damage to our NRR.

 

[nam]

Pakistan deserved to be the no.3 side in this tournament not 5. We were really unlucky to not get through to semis.

 

[faizanj]

Not a coincidence. Pak think tank apparently didn't pay attention to NRR in the early part of the tournament. By the time they started worrying about NRR it was too late.

They never paid attention to NRR. We should've chased better against NZ and Afghanistan. Took both the games to the last over.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

I guess they like most of us thought that Eng wil lose 1 of their last 2 matches. Hence didnt show intent against Afganis. Baddd!

 

[ManFan]

I guess they like most of us thought that Eng wil lose 1 of their last 2 matches. Hence didnt show intent against Afganis. Baddd!

You can’t depend on other teams fortunes.

They played well towards the end after finding their right combination.

Shame it always takes them mid-way through the tournament to do this because of aging players hanging on and non-performers lurking through.

 

[Chokli]

A 6th ranked team finishing 5th is not doing well according to my dictionary. We have performed par to our ranking - we have had a couple of good wins but we have had humiliating performances as well, which is what you expect from a 6th ranked team.

So you're saying we are a much better team than what we showed from CT 2017 up until World Cup 2019?

 

[xbronze]

Pakistan deserved to be the no.3 side in this tournament not 5. We were really unlucky to not get through to semis.

I agree. The problem was that Pakistan showed up as two teams for this world cup.

PAK Team 1 played the world cup for Pakistan TILL the India match.
PAK Team 2 played the world cup for Pakistan AFTER the India match.

Problem is, how do we get PAK Team 2 to show up from the very beginning of a world cup. Any one who can solve that riddle can make Pakistan sleep walk into the semis of all world cup.

And win many more world cup finals.

 

[nam]

I agree. The problem was that Pakistan showed up as two teams for this world cup.

PAK Team 1 played the world cup for Pakistan TILL the India match.
PAK Team 2 played the world cup for Pakistan AFTER the India match.

Problem is, how do we get PAK Team 2 to show up from the very beginning of a world cup. Any one who can solve that riddle can make Pakistan sleep walk into the semis of all world cup.

And win many more world cup finals.

We had a good plan to send players early for the tournament. Unfortunately we were not even close to our final playing XI. It was embarrassing last minute chop and change with our best 15 for World Cup.

 

[Mamoon]

So you're saying we are a much better team than what we showed from CT 2017 up until World Cup 2019?

If it is any consolation, Pakistan are not as bad as their 14 match losing streak showed. That is associate level performance and even Law of Averages failed to do its magic.

The 6th rank is a fair reflection of the level of this team. It will lost the majority of matches to the top sides and win the majority of matches from minnows like Ireland and Zimbabwe. Hence, finishing 5th in the World Cup is quite a par result.

 

[Mr.Q]

There were nine of them Sarfraz. NINE.