Mohammad Amir had a rather brutal remark on Pakistan’s defeat in the T20 World Cup final against England.
Pakistan faced a five-wicket defeat to England in the final of the T20 World Cup on Sunday, as the side’s hopes of repeating the 1992 ODI World Cup heroics shattered in Melbourne. England chased down a 138-run target with an over to spare as all-rounder Ben Stokes produced a match-winning performance, remaining unbeaten on 52 off 49 deliveries to secure a second World Cup title for England.
Jos Buttler invited Pakistan to bat after winning the toss in Melbourne, and the men in green endured an early setback when Mohammad Rizwan was dismissed on 15. Pakistan scored 39 at the end of the Powerplay and the onus was on captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Haris to stabilise the innings; however, the latter took on Adil Rashid in the bowler’s very first delivery in the game, and was caught at long on.
Pakistan continued to lose wickets in key intervals, as they could only reach 137/8 in 20 overs. Following the loss, Pakistan’s pacer Mohammad Amir severely criticised the side, insisting that he “knew” the result won’t favour the side.
“Log samajhte hain main tanqeed karta hu, main cricketing sense se baat karta hu. Ham final khel gaye bohot badi baat hai, ham deserve nahi karte the. Jis tarah ham final pohoche, poori duniya ko pata hai. (People think I’m criticising, but I’m talking with my cricketing sense. We played final, that’s enough. We didn’t deserve to be here. Everyone knows how we reached so far),” Amir said on 24 News HD.
Amir seemingly referred to the way in which Pakistan reached the semi-final of the T20 World Cup; after losing their first two matches against India and Zimbabwe, Pakistan had to eventually hope for South Africa to drop points on the final match-day of Group 2 in the Super 12 stage. Incredibly, Netherlands stunned the Proteas by 13 runs, allowing Pakistan an easier path to the semis.
The Babar Azam-led side then defeated Bangladesh in their last group match, and cruised past New Zealand in the semis to seal a final berth.
“Aap batsmen ki performances nikaalein, aapko results pata chal jaayenge. Maine kaha tha ki unko Sydney se bahar nikaalein.. nikle na Sydney se bahar, ye hi hona tha. Maine aapko pehle bola tha agar Melbourne ki wicket vaise hi mili jaisi tournament me mili hai, ham struggle karenge. Ye hona tha. (You see our batsmen’s stats, you will know. I said earlier that outside Sydney, they will struggle, and that’s what happened. I told you earlier that if we get a similar wicket in Melbourne as it has been throughout the tournament, we will struggle),” said Amir.