Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq believes the win against India in the inaugural match of the Super Four stage will raise the confidence of the players and they will perform better in their remaining matches of the ongoing Asia Cup.
Pakistan beat India by five wickets in the thriller at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. They will now take on Afghanistan on Wednesday in their second match of the Super Four phase, while they will lock horns with Sri Lanka on Friday in their last match. The final will be held on September 11.
“Pakistan’s overall performance in the match was outstanding. Babar Azam’s captaincy too was up to the mark as he took some very good decisions. The good thing was that he didn’t take any pressure. Hopefully, Pakistan will exhibit even better performance in the next fixtures,” Inzamam said on his YouTube channel.
The erstwhile great lauded Pakistan team for bouncing back in the match and controlling the flow of Indian runs after an onslaught by their top order in the early part of their innings.
“At one time I was thinking that India will manage to score around 220 but our bowlers bowled brilliantly to curtail them to 181.”
Inzamam, in particular, mentioned Shadab Khan and Muhammad Nawaz for restricting Indian batters to a getable target. He said the fast bowlers too bowled well in the death overs. “In the fielding department, Pakistan’s catching was outstanding. Barring one o two misfielding, the overall fielding has been very good.”
He heaped praise on Mohammad Rizwan for anchoring Pakistan’s innings and playing a key role in the team’s win. He hailed Nawaz for scoring scintillating 42 runs off 20 balls.
“His hitting was outstanding. It was not as if someone hit by chance rather he played proper cricketing shots.
“We are struggling to find a proper batsman at the number four position and now I feel Nawaz can bat regularly at that place,” he added.
