Salman Ali Agha sees room for improvement in some areas of the team.
Despite losing to the West Indies in a thrilling last-ball finish, Salman Ali Agha isn’t overly worried. On the contrary, he praises his team for fighting hard until the very end despite falling short by just a few runs. In the Pakistan T20 captain’s eyes, his team is ready for the upcoming Asia Cup.
On Sunday morning (Bangladesh time) in Florida, West Indies defeated Pakistan by 2 wickets in a high-intensity match. Jason Holder’s boundary off the final ball pushed the Windies past Pakistan’s total of 133, ending the Caribbean team’s long drought of wins.
Pakistan’s defeat in the second T20 largely came down to poor batting. No one on the team managed to score a fifty, with Hasan Nawaz’s 40 being the highest individual score. Chasing less than 140 runs in T20 cricket is always challenging, but thanks to excellent bowling performances, Pakistan showed promise—though they ultimately couldn’t close out the win.
Mohammad Nawaz stood out with the ball for Pakistan, taking 3 wickets for just 14 runs with his left-arm spin. He had also taken 3 wickets for 23 runs in the previous match.
Left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem also picked up a wicket, repeating his performance from the last game. Part-timer Saif Ayub impressed with two wickets in both matches using off-spin.
After the match, while praising his team’s fighting spirit, Salman pointed out areas needing improvement.
“We couldn’t bat well in the powerplay. We didn’t finish the match the way we wanted to. But we bowled and fielded well,” he said.
“There’s always room for improvement. Our death bowling can get better. Chasing 130 is never enough, but the bowlers really fought hard. Seeing how the spinners bowled in both games, I think we are ready for the Asia Cup.”
This year’s Asia Cup will be held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, starting September 9, where the best teams in Asia will battle for supremacy.
Pakistan will kick off their campaign on September 12 against Oman. Two days later, they will face their archrivals India. The group stage will conclude with a match against the UAE on September 17.
