Sarfraz loses sleep after Pak’s pathetic show
DUBAI: Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has revealed he lost sleep for six days during his team’s flop at the Asia Cup.
Pakistan lost their must-win game against Bangladesh by 37 runs in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, meaning they failed to qualify for Friday’s final in Dubai.
Bangladesh will face defending champions India in the final.
Pakistan lost both their games against arch rivals India -- by eight and nine wickets -- while narrowly beating Afghanistan by three wickets.
Sarfraz said the pressure of captaincy and not scoring runs led to some disturbed nights.
“Look, the pressures of captaincy are always there,” said Sarfraz. “Pakistani captains, whoever they are, always have while two ended in no result, which gave them a share of the winners’ tag, including the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.
Their sole victory in an ODI final during this phase came in the Natwest Trophy in England, where Yuvraj Singh (69, 63b) and Mohammad Kaif (87*, 75b) batted like men possessed to script a memorable win after India, chasing 326 against the hosts, had been reduced to 146/5. Prior to that, India had lost nine consecutive ODI finals.
IMPROVING NUMBERS
Final hiccups, though, now seem to be a thing of the past for India. In the last 11 years, they have played 11 ODI tournament finals, winning six. Two of these victories came in the 2011 World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy finals.
During this phase, the team also won three T20 finals, including the 2007 World T20 in South Africa and the 2016 Asia Cup in Bangladesh
(that edition was a T20 competition).
On Friday, Rohit Sharma and Co can look to improve India’s ‘final’ numbers. India are the only unbeaten side in the tournament.
The closest they came to losing was the inconsequential Super Four fixture when Afghanistan forced a tie after scoring 252. However, openers Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan as well as pace duo Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who were rested in that game, are expected to be back.
INJURY-HIT B’DESH
Bangladesh will sorely miss opener Tamim Iqbal and allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, both out due to injury.
Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (broken finger) and key batsman Mushfiqur Rahim will play despite injuries. Mortaza hailed Tamim’s courage in the win over Sri Lanka.
“Let me be honest, the moment Tamim entered the field against Sri Lanka as the last man to help Mushfiqur score those runs, my Asia Cup was won,” he said at the pre-match news conference.
South Africa West Indies
New Zealand Bangladesh Champions Trophy Others Total India won
in Bangladesh in India other places In Asia Cup
Day/night matches Bangladesh won
pressure.
“Obviously when you aren’t performing and the team is losing then there is more pressure. The truth is that if I say I haven’t slept for the last six nights nobody will believe me, but... this is part of life and it will go on.”
Sarfraz, who was appointed captain for all three formats last year, urged the authorities not to take any hasty decisions.
“I will say again we don’t need to press the panic button. We need to back the players who have been doing well in the recent past,” said Sarfraz, who managed just 68 runs in four matches.
“My performance isn’t good so the team lost. The team lost because of me. I should’ve performed as a captain but I didn’t and we lost because of that.”
TIME TO FIX MISTAKES
Sarfaz, who has been playing all three formats since the World Cup 2015, said it was up to the selectors to decide whether he should be rested.
“This is not my job, this is the job of the selection committee and the PCB. Let them decide. I gave you an answer, it is not my job. My job is to play, I will play. I will keep playing.”
Sarfraz said with next year’s World Cup still eight months away, there was time to correct mistakes. Last five matches
This will be the 35th ODI between India and Bangladesh and 12th in Asia Cup. Of the 34 ties played between the two sides, India have won 28, lost five with one match being abandoned. India have won 10 & lost one of 11 matches played in Asia Cup.
Of the 23 matches played so far under floodlights between the two sides, India have won 18, lost four with a contest being abandoned.
India have won three and Bangladesh two of the last five ODIS played between the two teams.
India had defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets when the teams faced off at the Super-four stage of this Asia Cup at the same ground on September 21. After bowling out Bangladesh for 173 in 49.1 overs, India reached the target in 36.2 overs, losing three wickets.
India have entered the final of the Asia Cup for the eighth time. They have won four and lost three of the seven previous finals. There was no final match in the first-ever Asia Cup at Sharjah in 1984.