Babar Azam Makes Confession After Asia Cup 2023 Exit

Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, claimed that Sri Lanka played better cricket than they did despite narrowly missing out on a position in the Asia Cup final. Shaheen Shah Afridi, the top bowler for Pakistan, created a thrilling last over by taking two wickets and conceding only four runs in the penultimate over. Charith Asalanka scored the winning runs to secure the victory after Zaman Khan failed to dismiss nine runs in the last over. Scroll down to read Babar Azam Makes Confession After Asia Cup 2023 Exit.

Babar Azam Makes Confession After Asia Cup 2023 Exit

After the game, Babar considered his choice to omit the effective bowler Iftikhar Ahmed from the attack as well as the weaknesses that ultimately contributed to their demise. Babar stated following the game, “We ultimately chose to bowl with our top bowlers. Because of this, I chose to bowl Shaheen, and for the last over, we had faith in Zaman Khan. The reason SL won was because they played exceptionally well; they played better cricket than we did. We didn’t perform up to par in both bowling and fielding, which is why we lost. We are not bowling very well in the middle overs. We paid a price for that alliance (between Mendis and Samarawickrama). We are beginning well, we are ending well, but we are not taking wickets in the middle.”

Coming to the game, the reigning champions waited until the very end to secure the victory against a team that undoubtedly missed the presence of its great pacers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf in the final overs.

In the second last over, Shaheen Shah Afridi came close to stealing the victory from Sri Lanka, but in the end, Asalanka dug deep to seal Sri Lanka’s victory with a last-ball victory and dash Pakistan’s aspirations.

When the game was down to the final two overs, Afridi created a tense final over by taking two wickets in the space of two balls in the second-to-last over.

Charith Asalanka (49)* maintained his composure and guided Sri Lanka to the final to defend their championship with a little luck. Debutant Zaman Khan had 9 runs to salvage the game and send Pakistan to the finals.

On the second-to-last ball, a massive outside edge helped him earn the boundary Sri Lanka most desperately needed, and a soft flip into the gap followed to seal the triumph.