New Delhi, March 31 (IANS) Former captain Imran Khan feels Pakistan did not deserve to win the World Cup semifinal against India the way they fielded, especially dropping batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar four times during their 29-run loss in Mohali Wednesday. Tendulkar went on to make 85.
Imran said it was unacceptable to drop a player of Tendulkar’s caliber so many times.
‘No team deserves to win if one fields the way Pakistan did,’ said Imran, who was the captain of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup winning squad.
‘You cannot drop a player like Sachin four times. And don’t forget the ground fielding. This was the ultimate pressure game.
‘The Indian batting felt the pressure, except for (Virender) Sehwag, and at the end Suresh Raina. Apart from that, everybody felt the pressure. Pakistan bowlers, except the two – Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal and, I think, Mohammad Hafeez too, felt the pressure. The others, especially Umar Gul, wilted under the burden,’ he said.
Chasing a 261-run target, Pakistan was off to a decent start at 70 for two in 15 overs. But wickets kept falling and the batsmen couldn’t cope with the asking rate. Imran felt the batsmen couldn’t handle the pressure.
‘The batting, after that brilliant start, could just not handle the pressure. With the fall of each wicket, Pakistan began to crumble, and halfway through, we knew the game was over,’ he said.
