Saqlain Mushtaq upbeat about Pakistan's chances in the T20 World Cup 2022 

Saqlain Mushtaq. (PC- Twitter)

Despite losing the Asia Cup 2022 final owing to poor batting and decision-making, Pakistan men's team head coach Saqlain Mushtaq reckons that Pakistan are in the best shape heading into the T20I World Cup in Australia, beginning next month.

Pakistan were left heartbroken as they suffered a 23-run defeat against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2022 final on Sunday in Dubai. Despite seizing early advantage by winning the toss and opting to bowl in Dubai, a venue where chasing teams have won more often than not, Pakistan failed to chase a challenging total of 171 as they were bundled out for 147 in their allotted 20 overs.

The Men in Green looked promising throughout the tournament but it was the poor planning by their top order and lack of contributions from the middle-order and lower middle-order which backfired and ultimately cost them the Asia Cup title.

Speaking about the humiliating defeat in the post match conference, Saqlain said that the runner-up team of the Asia Cup 2022 have done well with the same team in the recent past and few failures will not call for a complete overhaul of the squad before the silverware event next month in Australia.

“We should look at the overall scene. We made the World Cup semifinals, the Asia Cup finals and a whitewash in the West Indies series. Evidence indicates you’re doing something right. In some games, we made some small mistakes which look bigger,” said head coach Saqlain Mushtaq in the post-match press conference.

Following the dismal performance in the final of the Asia Cup 2022, the 2009 T20I World Cup winners will need some reconsideration in regards to the team selections for the upcoming home series against England as well as the T20I World Cup 2022.

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