Despite yet another humbling at the hands of India in the Women’s Asia Cup league-stage match in Dubai on Saturday, Pakistan remain the favourites to win the tournament, according to team mentor Wahab Riaz.
Batting first in their second group A match, Pakistan were bundled out for a paltry 55 in 18.1 overs, their lowest score in all recorded T20Is. In contrast, India finished atop the group standings and qualified for the semi-finals, winning their third successive game with a seven-wicket win inside nine overs.
“I believe that all the players in our team are very skilful, and they just need to trust themselves. Our next match is against Hong Kong. We will go back and discuss what we did wrong against India. We won’t commit the same mistakes. I still believe Pakistan is the best side in this Asia Cup to lift the trophy because the conditions really suit us,” a defiant Riaz told reporters after the defeat.
Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir had slammed the team management for a massive overhaul involving seven players after the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Riaz expressed disagreement with the criticism, intending the changes were necessitated due to poor performances.
“Sana Mir has her own opinion. I have nothing to do with that opinion. We have made changes with the future in mind. The players who were playing before, they have played a lot of World Cups and Asia Cups but we weren’t getting the 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,” Riaz said.
“It is not about who we left behind. We have to look at the reality. The girls who were left out weren’t performing at all. I think we did the right move by bringing new girls into the mix,” he added.
Pakistan’s qualification scare
Despite Riaz’s optimism about his team’s chances, Pakistan are on the brink of facing a humiliating group-stage exit. With two points from as many games, Pakistan are level with Thailand on two points. They will need to avoid a defeat in their final league game against Hong Kong to proceed to the semi-finals.