India thrash Pakistan for 55, Wahab Riaz still calls them ‘best side’ in Asia Cup
India crush Pakistan by seven wickets Pakistan’s Women’s Asia Cup campaign seems to be operating in a rather interesting parallel universe.On the field, Pakistan were blown away by India, bowled out for just 55 in 18.1 overs and then beaten by seven wickets in just over eight overs. Off the field, however, Pakistan women’s team mentor Wahab Riaz is confident that his team is the best team in the tournament and has what it takes to win the trophy.India made Pakistan’s batting line-up look completely helpless at the Dubai International Stadium on Saturday night, with young spinners Shree Charani and Prema Rawat doing most of the damage. Yet, despite one of Pakistan’s most emphatic defeats in the format, Riaz insisted the conditions could still work in his team’s favour.“I believe that all the players in our team are very skilled and they just need to believe in themselves. Our next match is against Hong Kong. We will go back and discuss what we did wrong against India. We will try not to make the same mistake. I still believe that Pakistan is the best side in this Asia Cup to lift the trophy because the conditions really suit us,” Riaz told reporters after the India match.If India’s seven-wicket win was a reality check, Riaz’s assessment suggested Pakistan was still firmly committed to looking at the brighter version of events.
Pakistan’s 55-run reality test
Pakistan entered the competition needing a strong performance against the tournament favourites. Instead, their batting collapsed spectacularly.Shafali Verma started the demolition by bowling Muneeb Ali for 13 before Charani struck twice in the sixth over. Seagull Feroza departed for a duck while Shawaal Zulfiqar was dismissed for 14, leaving Pakistan at 29 for 3.From there, the shift went downhill quickly.Pakistan slipped to 32 for 4 in the eighth over and were reduced to 45 for 7 in the 13th over. Charani finished with 3/7 while Rawat took 3/9. Deepti Sharma also played her part with 2/5 as Pakistan were eventually dismissed for 55 in 18.1 overs.It was Pakistan’s lowest T20I total.Their previous lowest score was 63, achieved in 19.1 overs against India in Guangzhou during the group stage of the 2012 Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup.Meanwhile, India needed just 8.4 overs to chase down the target, losing three wickets. Harmanpreet Kaur remained unbeaten on 18 to complete a victory that looked far from in danger.
Wahab disagrees with Sana Mir
Riaz was also asked about criticism from former Pakistan captain San Mir, who questioned the management’s decision to make sweeping changes to the squad for the tournament.Seven players were left out, but Riaz defended the selection procedures, claiming the changes were made with the future in mind.“Sana Mir has her own opinion. I have nothing to do with that opinion. We have made changes keeping the future in mind. The players who played before had played a lot of World Cup and Asia but we were not getting results. So it was time to go with new faces and bring new girls into the mix to build the team for the upcoming tournaments,” said Riaz.He was equally clear that the players left out had not done enough to keep their places.“It’s not about who we left behind. We have to look at the reality. The girls who were left out didn’t perform at all. I think we did the right thing by bringing new girls into the mix,” he added.The timing of Riaz’s assessment could hardly have been more striking.Pakistan just suffered their worst batting collapse in T20I history against India, while India extended their perfect run of the tournament to three matches and secured their place in the semi-finals with six points.Pakistan now need to beat Hong Kong in their final group match to keep their hopes of qualification alive.
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