Babar Azam: Pakistan ‘not up to the mark’ in USA shock defeat, says captain

Pakistan were “not up to the mark” in their shock T20 World Cup defeat to the USA, with captain Babar Azam adding that his team were guilty of underestimating their opponents.

Tournament co-hosts the USA delivered an historic upset with their Super-Over win over 2022 finalists Pakistan on Thursday after both sides finished the match tied on 159.

Left-arm seamer Saurabh Netravalkar, who bowled the winning over, has worked as an engineer for the past six years – according to his LinkedIn profile – alongside playing for the US national team since 2019.

“Whenever you come into any tournament, you always do the best preparation,” Babar told reporters after his side’s defeat.

“But you can say it’s a kind of mindset, when you come up against a team like this, you relax a little. You take things a little lightly.

“If you don’t execute your plan against any team, then whatever team it is, they will beat you.

“I believe that we are not up to the mark in executing. We are doing well in preparation, but in the match, we are not executing our plans as a team.”

Pakistan next face arch-rivals India in a blockbuster game in New York on Sunday – live on Sky Sports Cricket from 3.20pm.

What do we know about US team that shocked the world?

Saurabh Netravalkar, who also has a Master of Science (MS) degree from Cornell University in New York, was born in Mumbai and is one of a handful of players in the USA squad not originally from the country but who have qualified through living there for over three years.

He, along with Harmeet Singh, have previously represented India Under-19s at a World Cup, Netravalkar alongside big-hitting Indian star KL Rahul in 2010 and Harmeet part of the country’s victorious team in 2012. The latter was also part of the Rajasthan Royals squad in the 2013 Indian Premier League.

In the 2010 U-19 World Cup, India faced an England side in the group stage that contained Joe Root and Ben Stokes, with Netravalkar dismissing the former for four on his way to stunning figures of 3-25. But Stokes would have the last laugh, a starring 100 off 88 balls firing England to a 31-run win.

Captain Monank Patel is also from India originally, born in Anand, Gujarat, and played age group cricket in the region before settling in the USA permanently in 2016.

Milind Kumar and Nisarg Patel, who didn’t play on Thursday but are part of the USA 15-man squad, were born also born in India. Milind was part of Delhi’s squad for the 2014 IPL and RCB’s in 2019, though would never play a game.

Pace bowler Ali Khan was born in Pakistan and took 1-30 against the country of his birth, claiming the important scalp of Fakhar Zaman for 11. Shayan Jahangir is also from Pakistan originally but did not feature in the game.

Further enhancing the squad’s cricketing credentials is the inclusion of former New Zealand Test player Corey Anderson. The 33-year-old, capped 13 times in the longest format by his country of birth before emigrating to the US in 2020.

Andries Gous and Shayan Jahangir both played a good amount of first-class cricket in South Africa before they made the move Stateside, while Nitish Kumar played 18 T20s for Canada before his USA debut this year.

What’s next for the USA and Pakistan?

In one of the most rivalries in cricket, Pakistan next meet India meet in Group A of the Men’s T20 World Cup on Sunday, with the match in New York getting under way at 3.30pm, live on Sky Sports Cricket.

Live ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

Sunday 9th June 3:00pm

The USA’s next match is also against India, at the same New York venue, on Wednesday, June 12, at 3.30pm.

Both matches are being played at the specially-constructed Nassau County Cricket Stadium on Long Island, where the ICC has promised to resolve issues with the pitch following the initial Sri Lanka-South Africa and then India-Ireland matches at the ground.

“T20 Inc and the ICC recognise that the pitches used so far at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium have not played as consistently as we would have all wanted,” read an ICC statement.

“The world-class grounds team have been working hard since the conclusion of yesterday’s game to remedy the situation and deliver the best possible surfaces for the remaining matches.”

Watch every match of the Men’s ICC T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports, right up until the final on Sunday June 29.