After sustaining two heartbreaking defeats in the ongoing T20 World Cup, one-time champion Pakistan stands on the cusp of elimination from the multi-national tournament. The Men in Green first lost a nerve-jangling fixture against arch-rivals India and were then stunned by minnow Zimbabwe in their following fixture. Interestingly, Babar Azam's team was well-poised to win both matches for the better half of the games but ended up coughing ascendancy, resulting in back-to-back last-ball defeats.
Reflecting on Pakistan's choke job in the previous two matches, former India captain and batting great cited that strong management is paramount in such a situation in order to lift the morale of the team.
Kabhi kabhi waise demoralising hota hai. Aap apne aap ko lift nehi kar sakte. Lift karne kiliye apke jo management hai woh waise chaiye jo aapko bol sake ki haa ho gaya but aapke paas woh qabiliyat hai. Yehi pe, do saal pehle, India Adelaide main 36 all-out ho gayi thi. Kohli wapas chale gaye the. Ajinkya Rahane captain the. Jis tarike se Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun, Ajinkya Rahane, Vikram Rathour, Sridhar, unhone team ko samhala aur confidence diya. Aur maine dekha hai ki jab Kohli nehi rehta hai toh baki ke players sochte hai ki kaise uske jaga ko compensate karein. Waisa agar Pakistan ke paas hota, waisa support staff jo team ko bol sakta hai ki chalo...abhi bhi ho sakta hai. (Sometimes it can be demoralising. But to lift yourself up, you sometimes need a management who can tell you to forget about the defeat because you have that ability. Two years back in Australia, India were bundled out for 36 in a Test match in Adelaide. Virat Kohli had returned home after that game. But the way the team was handled by Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun, Ajinkya Rahane, Vikram Rathour, Sridhar, who instilled that belief. Pakistan need that kind of support and they still can turn things around),” he said in an exclusive with India Today.
Pakistan, considered as one of the contenders, are now staring at one of the biggest embarrassing campaigns in ICC multi-national tournaments in recent history. The Men in Green will lock horns against the Netherlands on October 30 (Sunday), but if you look at the Group realistically, the subcontinental side are all but out of the tournament. They need multiple results to go in their favour to qualify for the semi-finals.
