Batters did not bat responsibly: Afghanistan bowling coach Umar Gul on Pakistan's defeat against India

By Vivek Prabhakar Singh
Dubai [UAE], September 2 (ANI): Former Pakistan player and current Afghanistan team bowling coach Umar Gul expressed his thoughts on India versus Pakistan clash and said that the Men in Green scored 20-25 runs less and batters did not bat responsibly, as a result, they faced five-wicket defeat against their arch-rival.
The crucial partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya helped India defeat arch-rivals Pakistan in a thrilling clash by five wickets in the second match of the Asia Cup 2022 here at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Pakistan were bundled out for 147 in 19.4 overs. Opener Mohammed Rizwan (43) and Iftikhar Ahmed (28) were the only ones who could contribute something decent with the bat. The pace and short-length deliveries of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26), Hardik Pandya (3/25) and Arshdeep Singh (2/33) and Avesh Khan (1/19) blew away Pakistani batters and wickets fell at a regular rate.
Talking about the match between the arch-rivals, Umar Gul told ANI, "Obviously you miss your leading and strike bowler but the way Naseem Shah gave a start with the ball. Got the breakthrough, given the kind of start. So, they definitely missed but I feel Pakistan scored 20-25 runs less. The batters did not bat responsibly as per the conditions. Some shot selections were not right. Had there been 20-25 runs more then things would have been different."
Afghanistan produced a stunning show in the Asia Cup 2022, winning both the clashes they've played so far. The team started their Asia Cup campaign against Sri Lanka, whom they bowled out for 105 runs in 19.4 overs, and in their second match against Bangladesh, Afghanistan restricted the Bengal tigers for a paltry 127/7 in 20 overs, a total which Mohammad Nabi's side chased down in 18.3 overs.
"Obviously, I feel proud when your players are executing the plans given by you. It feels great as a coach. So, far this is the result of the all-round cricket we have played. We are doing better in all the departments on a day-to-day basis. We are trying to rectify the mistakes we do on a daily basis. We have more important matches in the coming days and we are trying to work on them," he said.
"They are ready to play big teams they beat Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Both are big teams. In shorter versions like T20s, any team can surprise anyone on a given day. All the players have gelled well together and they are praising each other so the atmosphere of the dressing room is amazing and the execution is also great," said Gul.
Earlier, Afghanistan outplayed Bangladesh in all departments and also became the first team to qualify for the final four. (ANI)