It was a disappointing start by defending champions Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy as they were humbled by New Zealand to a 60-run defeat in Karachi on Wednesday. The defeat not only hurt the fans but also left the players disappointed.
One of those players was Naseem Shah, who claimed two wickets in the game and conceded 63 runs. When he came out for interaction with journalists in the mixed zone, disappointment on his face was writ large.
However, he remained optimistic to turn things around in the remaining two games – against India and Bangladesh – to qualify for the knockouts.
Shah emphasised the need to address shortcomings and focus on improvement.
"When you don't start well, it's natural to feel disappointed," Shah said. "There are quite a few things we need to fix before the next important match. We have to rectify our mistakes and focus on the next game."
He also highlighted that adjustments need to be made in such conditions. "On pitches like these, bowlers don't get much help. Big scores are very much likely here," he noted.
Pakistan conceded 113 runs in last 10 overs, 64 out of those came in the last five overs of the innings courtesy Glenn Philipps and Tom Latham, who turned the game around for New Zealand with their brilliant stand.
Reflecting on death overs bowling, Shah admitted that the final overs did not go as planned.
"The last six to eight overs didn't go the way we wanted to. We need to look at how we can improve in those areas in the next matches," he said.
Despite the below par show, Shah stressed the importance of maintaining the team's morale and said they should not completely give up after one bad game.
"We don't need to let our morale drop. There are two more matches, and we will try to win both," he said.
Meanwhile, vice-captain Salman Ali Agha also shed light on Pakistan's poor batting display, stating that they failed to utilize the powerplay.
According to him, one reason of the failure was not having Fakhar Zaman to open the innings.
It is worth to mentioning here that Fakhar was not eligible to bat for 20 minutes of the game, which forced Pakistan to open with Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel.
Captain Mohammad Rizwan in a post-match ceremony said that they were not expecting New Zealand to post a total past the 300-run mark.
He said the partnership between centurions Will Young and Tom Latham was crucial and rained on their parade.
"I think they managed to set us a very good target, we didn't expect they would get 320. We thought it would be around 260 when we took early wickets. The Will Young-Latham partnership was crucial," said Rizwan.
"We tried, but they played very smartly and that's why they got to that total. The pitch was not easy to bat early on, but Young and Latham's innings gave them advantage. Our execution in the end overs was not good, and that's why they made that score," he added.
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