Pakistan’s one-sided victory leaves Imran Nazir unconvinced

Former opener says hosts bagged rankings points, but cricket fans left unentertained

KARACHI: Pakistan won their first T20I against a visiting West Indies in one-sided encounter by 143 runs and former cricketers think that a win by this margin is good for the team, but not for the spectators.

Pakistan restricted the defending World T20 champions to 60 runs in just 13.4 overs as they tried to chase a 204-run target.

With the win, Pakistan recorded their highest T20I victory by runs and the world’s second highest win margin by runs. It was also the lowest score in a T20I by any team against Pakistan.

Imran Nazir, former Pakistani opener, thinks fan would be demotivated by such a one-sided show, however the victory, eventually, is good of the national T20I side.

“The win has given Pakistan important points in the rankings and they have also moved one step closer to keeping intact their number one spot, but this is not good for the spectators,” said Nazir while talking to The Express Tribune.

Former right-handed opener continued by explaining why he thinks so. “We have seen all around the world that whenever a match in one-sided, it doesn’t help the shortest format,” he said. “T20 is known to be the most exciting format in cricket and that is because of the level of competition where the players of both teams hit big. It is more a batsman’s game and if they fail, it leaves a bad taste in the spectators’ mouth.”

‘Entertainment, entertainment, entertainment’

The return of cricket to the stadiums of Pakistan means people will now have one more entertainment avenue open for them and Nazir feels one-sided affairs don’t serve the purpose.

“We saw the National Stadium was not full like it was in the final of the third edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Then, when the match became one-sided, the crowd started to move out despite Pakistan’s victory,” said Nazir.

He continued: “The crowd wants entertainment and that can only happen when both teams play a great game of cricket, just like the PSL matches. Every match of the PSL was full of entertainment and that is what attracts crowds.”

However, he encouraged the people of Karachi to cut the Windies some slack as they played the match just a few hours after landing in the country.

“The West Indies team played the match just a few hours after landing in Karachi and no matter how professional you are, you do suffer from jet lag. So I am assuming that the visitors will come back strong in the remaining matches and will provide the crowds with much-needed entertainment,” he said.

Former Test cricketer Muhammad Waseem also echoed Nazir’s sentiments and said nail-biters and last-over finishes are the need of the time.

“Matches like these will not fulfil the aim of this series,” said Waseem. “We want to see better encounters that finish on the last ball of the game. That will be real entertainment for the fans of cricket.”