Watch: Shoaib Akhtar urges Pakistan players to avoid playing for personal milestones against India

Shoaib Akhtar, Shaheen Afridi and Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter and Surjeet Yadav/Getty Images)

Pakistan will take on Team India in the high-intensity T20 World Cup 2024 clash at the Nassau County Stadium in New York, on (Sunday) June 9. Notably, the Green Shirts are coming off a morale-down loss against the minnows, the United States of America. The defeat is being termed as the black day in Pakistan cricket and the team has got a motivating message from former Pakistani speedster, Shoaib Akhtar.

Things look grim for Pakistan as a further loss would potentially oust them from the tournament. It is worth noting that ahead of the marquee event, Pakistan lost the T20I series against Ireland and England respectively. Pakistan will take on Ireland after the India assignment and even that proves to be a tougher roadblock. Akhtar has advised the Men in Green to not play for the individual records and urged the players to play for the betterment of the team.

“Please play for the country, play out of your skin, not for personal milestones. Remember the Champions Trophy, the 2009 World Cup. People do not remember the personal milestones, but the matches that you have won for Pakistan. Today, play for each other, for Pakistan’s morale, whole of Pakistan is supporting you. Boost Pakistan’s morale, lift Pakistan. You have burned your bridges, now swim out of the ocean,” Akhtar said in his video on Twitter.

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Here’s the video of Akhtar’s message to Pakistan:

Our spinners also did not take wickets in the middle overs: Babar

Pakistan were invited to bat first by the USA after winning the toss on June 5 in Dallas. The hosts halted the run flow at regular intervals as Pakistan posted a mere 159 on board. While chasing, the USA levelled the score on the back of a half-century by Monank Patel. In the Super Over, Pakistan failed to chase down the 19-run target by the USA as they managed just 13 runs. Babar Azam credited the loss to his spinners who failed to pick any wicket during the game.

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“First 6 overs while batting we didn’t capitalise. Back-to-back wickets always put you on the back foot, as a batter you need to step up and build partnerships. We were not up to the mark in the first 6 overs with the ball. Our spinners also did not take wickets in the middle overs so these things cost us. Very hard, all credit to USA, they played better than us in all three departments. Little bit of moisture in the pitch, it was also two-paced. As a professional you need to assess the conditions,” Azam said during the post-match presentation.