Pakistan have hit rock bottom: Manjrekar slams team after loss vs USA

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 7, 2024 08:21 IST

"USA have climbed Mt. Everest, while Pakistan have hit rock bottom," said Sanjay Manjrekar after the co-hosts stunned the Babar Azam side at the Grand Praire Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Playing their first match in the tournament, Pakistan put up an embarrassing show against USA losing the match in Super Over by 5 runs. The 2022 runner-ups failed to beat USA - who are playing their first ever T20 World Cup. The Babar Azam side were extremely poor with the bat, hitting 159/7 in the first 20 overs of the game, and then despite having a seasoned bowling line-up were only able to pick 3 wickets in the USA innings.

Manjrekar slammed the Pakistan side for their terrible show in the first match and said that he lost respect for Pakistan on the day after they played below-par cricket at the international level. While speaking on Star Sports after the match, Manjrekar said that Pakistan players looked like club-level cricketers.

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"So early to reach such a peak as far as international cricket is concerned, winning this game. You have got one team like USA reaching Mt. Everest while Pakistan have really hit rock bottom. I have not seen a worse performance from Pakistan. This is not just about the defeat. The review, the Super Over from Mohammad Amir, the misfields when the pressure was on. It hurts me to see this because when I played against Pakistan they were world champions, they have hit rock bottom now," Sanjay Manjrekar said.

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Lost respect for Pakistan

Manjrekar made scathing comments against Pakistan captain Babar Azam and said that the skipper's defensive approach started the problems for Pakistan. Manjrekar also blamed Mohammad Amir for failing to show his maturity despite playing international and franchise cricket for so many years.

"They have seen a few dips over the years. Pakistan being upset is actually a story in itself. India does not feature even once in the list of upsets in the T20 World Cup 2024. The quality of cricket that Pakistan have played today, they looked like club-level players. Their batters at the top of the order gave far too much respect, they thought that 150 was a good enough score and that is why Babar Azam played the way he played. And that is where I really lost respect for Pakistan. Mohammad Amir has been brought for the experience and he started off with a wide ball in the Super Over. It was terrible," concluded Manjrekar.

Pakistan are in a bit of a trouble after losing against USA. They will play India in their next outing at the Nassau County Stadium in New York.