Delhi: After the defeat in its first match of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 against India in Edgbaston, Pakistan team has started introspecting. After the match ended, head coach Wahab Riaz admitted that his team missed some important chances in both the innings, which ultimately resulted in defeat.
Also read: IND-W vs PAK-W: Harmanpreet Kaur’s blunt answer on ‘handshake’ controversy, Pakistan made its stand clear before the match
Emphasis on adopting aggressive thinking
While talking to the media, Wahab Riaz said that the team management is working towards bringing changes in the style of T20 cricket in Pakistan. However, he admitted that it will take time to change the long-standing thinking and way of playing.
He said that the aim of the team is to enter the field with a positive mindset. Players will have to display their natural game without any fear. According to him, scoring more runs in the powerplay and reaching competitive scores has become the biggest need of modern T20 cricket.
India’s dominance increased in the last overs
Wahab Riaz believes that the trend of the match changed in the last overs of India’s innings. Pakistan had kept the match balanced with bowling in the initial and middle stages, but in the last moments, Indian batsmen strengthened their hold on the match by scoring runs rapidly.
He said that in T20 cricket, the first six overs and the last four overs are the most decisive. Pakistan was not completely successful in both these phases. Spending extra runs, especially in the last two overs, proved costly for the team.
Richa Ghosh’s innings became decisive
The coach praised Indian batsman Richa Ghosh and said that she took full advantage of the opportunity given to her. According to him, on the pitch on which the match was played, India’s score was about 15 to 20 runs more than Pakistan’s expectation and this difference ultimately affected the result.
Batting disintegrated after a strong start
While chasing the target, Pakistan had made a good start and the team was in the match in the initial overs, but the whole equation changed due to the continuous fall of wickets in the middle order.
Wahab Riaz said that after the powerplay, the team needed to save wickets by maintaining the run-rate, but losing five consecutive wickets between the seventh and thirteenth overs almost ended the chances of a comeback. He said that after such a big decline in T20 cricket, it becomes very difficult to return to the match.
Advice given to maintain composure under pressure
There is extra pressure on the players during the India-Pakistan match. Regarding this, Wahab told that during the match, he had told the players to stick only to basic plans and avoid panic. He believes that in big matches, simple strategy often leads to success.
Also replied on handshake controversy
When asked about there not being a traditional handshake between the players of both the teams after the match ended, Wahab Riaz said that he did not know the reason for this. He said that if the conditions remain like this then it will not have any major impact on the game.
Positive signs despite defeat
Although Pakistan had to start the tournament with a defeat, the coach also saw some positive aspects in the team’s performance. He said that the bowlers struggled for a long time and there were some good signs in the batting also. Now the only need is to minimize the mistakes and move ahead with confidence.
Also read: Deepti Sharma eyes big record in IND vs PAK match, needs only 2 wickets to become number-1
keep an eye on the next matches
Pakistan team will now focus on the upcoming matches of the group stage. To remain in the tournament, better performance in the next matches will be very important. Wahab Riaz expressed confidence that the team has the potential to win, provided the players believe in themselves and play more positive cricket.
Comments are closed.