Shahid Afridi expresses regret to his nation
Skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 at Mohali.
The Pakistani team was given a target of 261 runs by the Men in Blue who chose to bat first after winning toss. The Indian team took advantage of Umar Gul’s poor bowling, and used it to take pressure off their batsmen, who kept the run rate high by hitting
boundaries in every over. Hoping to capitalize on this strong batting start, the Indian team looked to set a big run target, which was jeopardized by the efforts of Pakistani pacer, Wahab Riaz who tried his best to turn the situation around.
"He (Wahab) really bowled well, but we missed some opportunities - and in the end, they played better than us," Afridi said.
Indian batting icon, Sachin Tendulkar, who was the game’s top scorer for 85 runs, was given chances when Pakistani fielders dropped his catches four times during crucial overs.
“Our fielding was poor today and we didn’t take our catches which is the prime reason why we lost today,” said Afridi,
Afridi, in a post-match ceremony blamed his batsmen for putting up an inconsistent and irresponsible show, by not setting partnerships and playing foolish shots.
Pakistan, while batting second took an appreciable batting start with Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez. All eyes and hopes were with these two, but Kamran’s early dismissal put pressure on the Pakistan side. Hafeez, who was gathering runs with great responsibility
at that time, made the foolish attempt to play a wide ball, crushing hopes of millions and exiting at 70 runs.
Senior batmen, Younis Khan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, who should have supported the junior members of the team, displayed a miserably reckless performance. The youngster, Umar Akamal, who hit two sixes and one boundary, produced decent innings, however, he failed
to receive any back up from his partner, Misbah who barely struggled for a single at the time. Interestingly, Misbah hit the boundaries when situation had gone out of Pakistan’s control.
"We needed some more performances from seniors. They, however, could not but I think they have also realised it," said Afridi.
Afridi, who was leading the Pakistan team as captain in the World Cup tournament for the first time, seemed quite upset, but expressed satisfaction on the overall performance of his team. He praised his team, and said they played beyond expectations since
no one had anticipated them to reach the semi-finals. Afridi added that winning and losing are part of the game and his side should feel proud of their hard work.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 out of their eight matches won six and remained in the leading position.
After winning the semi-final, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820.
Tags: