Srinagar: Former India cricketer turned commentator , Dinesh Karthik has named two players who let Pakistan down in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
Pakistan are almost 99 percent out of World Cup 2023 after New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in their match at Bengaluru.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Karthik highlighted a crucial factor that, in his opinion, contributed to Pakistan’s struggle – the lack of form with the ball.
“They have a template which is not probably followed by the other teams like in Australia or England but it doesn’t mean they have bad template, what was happening is their lack of form with the ball showed. Haris Rauf was a massive miss for them, he was somebody who was touted to be the most important bowler who could bowl through the middle overs, pick up wickets and at the death, but he leaked a lot of runs in his first and second spell and then it was Shadab Khan, he was the biggest miss for them in this tournament, just couldn’t pick up wickets, was a pale shadow of his past and that really showed why Pakistan struggled,” Dinesh Karthik said.
Haris Rauf in eight matches, has taken 13 wickets but has conceded 469 runs at an economy rate of 6.79. Consequently, he stands as the second-highest run conceding bowler in the tournament.
Pakistan need to beat England by around 287 runs while batting first or by about 284 balls to spare while chasing the target.