<p>On Monday, Afghanistan defeated Pakistan in the 2023 World Cup, a shocking defeat for Pakistan. It was their first loss against Afghanistan, and it has significantly hurt Pakistan’s prospects of qualifying for the semifinals. Pakistan, who has two victories in five games and a negative Net Run Rate, is in fifth place and may need other teams to help them out in addition to winning all of their remaining games. In Chennai, Babar Azam’s team put up a lackluster display against Afghanistan despite setting a challenging 283-run total, losing by 8 wickets.<img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-251124″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/theindiaprint.com-we-were-doing-well-as-a-country-when-we-were-scoring-runs-at-the-same-strike-rate-.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com we were doing well as a country when we were scoring runs at the same strike rate” width=”1246″ height=”698″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/theindiaprint.com-we-were-doing-well-as-a-country-when-we-were-scoring-runs-at-the-same-strike-rate-.jpg 300w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/theindiaprint.com-we-were-doing-well-as-a-country-when-we-were-scoring-runs-at-the-same-strike-rate–150×84.jpg 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 1246px) 100vw, 1246px” title=”We were doing well as a country when we were scoring runs at the same strike rate. Why? : enraged Shoaib Malik strikes, Star of Pakistan 3″></p>
<p>It doesn’t assist Pakistan’s team that several of its top batsmen have struggled in the World Cup so far, even if their bowlers continue to be out of form. Imam ul Haq, who started the competition in terrific form, has unable to capitalize on his opportunities so far. Only one fifty (a 70 against Australia) and scores of 15, 12, 36, and 17 have been recorded by Imam in his five encounters. The fact that Pakistan’s team struggled against its bitter rivals India and Afghanistan isn’t helping Imam’s case.</p>
<p>Imam, who bats first and has a fairly low ODI strike rate of 82.63, received criticism from renowned Pakistani hitter Shoaib Malik on the ‘The Pavilion’ program on YouTube channel A Sports.</p>
<p>When the debate’s moderator asked Malik to remark on Imam’s subpar performances, the great all-arounder remembered his tweet from the previous year in which he made fun of the “friendships” put up in Pakistan.</p>
<p>“When he was constantly scoring runs at the same strike rate, there weren’t any sixes and maybe two fours. Our country was doing OK. Why did we survive that situation? Why didn’t it annoy us? I was the one who tweeted, if you recall. Now, everyone is aware of it. When will we go beyond friendships and favors, I tweeted. God supports people who are sincere, Malik remarked.</p>
<p>“In the tweet, I covered every aspect of our system. When the World Cup team (T20 World Cup 2022) was ready to be revealed, if I were diplomatic, I wouldn’t accidentally shoot myself in the foot. It concerned the whole infrastructure. Additionally, I stand by my tweet,” said Malik.</p>
<p>It may be difficult for Babar Azam and company to qualify for the knockout stages given that Pakistan still has four games left in the competition (against South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, and England). South Africa and New Zealand, two of Pakistan’s next opponents, are now ranked top-4 and have each given up only one defeat.</p>
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