Kamal Ghorui
Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq struck an optimistic note on Tuesday, insisting the side can recover from their heavy T20 World Cup loss to India and still secure a place in the next stage of the tournament.India’s emphatic 61-run victory has left Pakistan in a must-win situation. They now need to defeat Namibia in their final Group A fixture in Colombo on Wednesday to book a berth in the Super Eights. A loss would end their campaign, with Pakistan currently sitting third in the group behind the USA on net run rate.
There remains a slim mathematical possibility for the Netherlands to advance as well, but that would require a substantial victory over co-hosts India in Ahmedabad on the same day.“Lifting the team is only difficult when you don’t work on your mistakes committed in the last game,” Tariq told reporters.“We have worked on our mistakes so I think it will not be a tough task.“We have a resolve not to commit the same mistakes again.”Pakistan drew criticism for opting to field first against India and then collapsing to 114 all out in 18 overs while chasing 176.“We can feel their (fans’) disappointment because the match is watched by the whole nation,” Tariq said.“So we feel their pain but I am sure when we play them (India) next we will put up a better show.”He also brushed aside speculation that Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi might be dropped for the Namibia clash after underwhelming displays.“Both Azam and Shaheen have won many matches for Pakistan so if they did not perform well in one game we should not write them off,” said Tariq.Pakistan have met Namibia just once before in a T20 international. Namibia, meanwhile, have lost all three of their group matches.“Whoever we play we have the confidence to beat them and our goal is to play the final and win the cup which we will try our best to achieve.”
