Pakistan’s route to redemption explained as Babar Azam vows to come back stronger
Spirited Zimbabwe pull off stunning win against Pakistan | Match Highlights | T20WC 2022
Match Highlights: Zimbabwe stun Pakistan at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022
Two defeats by the narrowest of margins have left Pakistan on the brink at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, but not yet totally out of the picture in terms of qualification for the semi-finals.
“To be honest, it's hard (to qualify now), but we have two days, and we'll have a sit together and discuss,” a glum Babar Azam said in his media conference after the loss to Zimbabwe.
“We will come back stronger," he continued. “To be honest, we were not up to the mark, starting with the first six overs in the bowling, but later on we finished well.
“But in the batting time, we had our collapse. The batting was not up to the mark. When me and (Mohammad) Rizwan were out, Shan (Masood) and Shadab (Khan) built a partnership, but after that collapse we did not finish well.”
Pakistan will need to win all three of their remaining fixtures [more on those shortly], while also relying on other results elsewhere.
The maximum number of points Babar and his side can now reach is six. So essentially the situation is this:
If any two of India, South Africa and Zimbabwe win two of their remaining three matches then Pakistan will not qualify. That is a certainty.
Were Pakistan to finish on six points with only one team above that tally then it could come down to Net Run Rate – with India and South Africa currently well ahead in that column.
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But the clearest and ‘likeliest’ route to a Pakistan qualification would require them to win their three remaining matches, India to beat South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to top the group, and Zimbabwe to fail to beat one of Bangladesh or Netherlands.
So not mathematically impossible, but that is a lot of results that need to go in Pakistan’s favour.
Can they hold up their end of the equation? Here’s what awaits in the final three matches...
Sunday 30 October: Netherlands v Pakistan, Perth Stadium
Pakistan will need to win and win big against Netherlands to set the tone for their chase of a semi-final spot. The other match results on Sunday 30 October could also be vital, with Bangladesh playing Zimbabwe earlier in Brisbane, before India and South Africa follow Pakistan’s game in Perth. It has been 13 years since the last and only T20I between Pakistan and Netherlands, a match that the Asian side won with ease.
Thursday 03 November: Pakistan v South Africa, SCG, Sydney
Potentially the decisive game in Pakistan’s unlikely revival sees the SCG host a massive Group 2 fixture. South Africa are ranked third in the world at the time of writing, and possess a fiery bowling attack and powerful batting unit. But Pakistan’s record against the Proteas in recent times is good, with six wins in the last eight T20I meetings.
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Sunday 06 November: Pakistan v Bangladesh, Adelaide Oval
If Pakistan are still alive on the final matchday then they will fancy their chances against Bangladesh. The recent T20I record in this fixture is heavily in Pakistan’s favour, with eight straight wins (and one abandoned game) since the Tigers last won in March 2016.
Sunday 30 October: Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, The Gabba, Brisbane
Sunday 30 October: Netherlands v Pakistan, Perth Stadium
Sunday 30 October: India v South Africa, Perth Stadium
Wednesday 02 November: Zimbabwe v Netherlands, Adelaide Oval
Wednesday 02 November: India v Bangladesh, Adelaide Oval
Thursday 03 November: Pakistan v South Africa, SCG, Sydney
Sunday 06 November: South Africa v Netherlands, Adelaide Oval
Sunday 06 November: Pakistan v Bangladesh, Adelaide Oval
Sunday 06 November: Zimbabwe v India, MCG, Melbourne