The approach of the Pakistani batsmen in the Asia Cup final might be getting questioned by a lot of experts around the world, but Pakistan head coach Saqlain Mushtaq backed his team in the post-match press conference yesterday and said that people have been drawing conclusions from outside without having any idea what’s going inside the dressing room.
According to Saqlain Mushtaq, a lot of his players were carrying niggles in this Asia Cup. Asif Ali had split the webbing between his fingers and he had four stitches on his hand before he went out to bat in the final. Shadab Khan hurt his ear while fielding and later collided on the field again with one of his teammates to suffer a concussion. But, despite that, he batted.
Saqlain said that Pakistan qualified for the semifinal of the T20 World Cup and the final of the Asia Cup. They couldn’t have reached this far in either of the two tournaments if they hadn’t been doing a few things right. There might be other areas that need improvement, but to question Pakistan’s whole approach itself is not right.
Saqlain Mushtaq "It's easy to sit out & pass comments, but you never know what was going on inside. Asif played while having 4 stitches in hand & Shadab's ear was bleeding as ball hit him hard during field,asked him to rest but he still went to bat" #PAKvSL #shadabkhan #captaincy pic.twitter.com/FAP4qqEpAk
— Ahmad Haseeb (@iamAhmadhaseeb) September 12, 2022
Our playing style is not that bad: Saqlain Mushtaq
“Hamaara khelne ka style itna bhi bura nahi hai (Our playing style is not that bad),” Saqlain Mushtaq told one of the reporters when he was asked if Pakistan should adopt the kind of modern-day batting approach that the other teams around the world are adopting.
Adding further to his point, Saqlain said it’s not necessary to copy the world and do things exactly the way the other teams around the world are doing. There are different players who play their game differently and everyone doesn’t need to be asked to emulate what others are doing. Saqlain, however, admitted if there is something where Pakistan is lagging behind, they should definitely work on it.