🏏ICC T20I Men's WC 2024: Match 11: PAK vs USA at Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas on 06/06/2024 @ 9:00 PM IST🏏
[Tag and Logo Credit to Wildestdreams]
Vulnerable Pakistan to face up to plucky USA without injured Imad Wasim
USA go into this game high on confidence, having shown heart against Canada and recently upsetting Bangladesh. Pakistan could hardly say the same
"Pakistan the heavyweight, the USA the plucky underdog" isn't a phrase that rolls off the tongue neatly enough, but those are the sobriquets thrust upon these two sides when they take each other on in Dallas. Cricketing matters aside, this game has enough of a tinge of off-field spice, but add to that an American uptick in form combined with a vulnerable Pakistan unit and the cricketing matters provide intrigue of their own.
USA's win over Canada in the first game neatly illustrates the danger the hosts pose. The temperament the hosts showed, turning what appeared a near-certain losing position into a comfortable victory, is emblematic of a side high on confidence following on from their stunning 2-1 series win over Bangladesh in the build-up to the tournament. The relative familiarity with the venue also gives USA an added edge, having played against Canada at the same ground.
Pakistan meanwhile, have struggled to get a proper training session in, let alone an actual game, warm-up or official. Rain in Dallas for much of the past week forced Pakistan to move two practice sessions to makeshift indoor facilities, and instead of arriving early to acclimatise, Pakistan spent the past three weeks playing T20I series in Ireland and the UK. They didn't exactly showcase a fearsome side in search of a title, as inconsistent performances saw them lose one of the three games to Ireland, and comfortably beaten in both completed matches against England.
Pakistan's woes have been compounded by the confirmed injury to Imad Wasim, specifically brought back to the squad for his US and Caribbean experience. In addition, as the final game against England made crystal clear, the opening combination of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam appears their only viable option, meaning much of the experimentation in the build-up over the past five months has not borne fruit. Several players severely struggling for form means there are points of weakness dotted throughout the order, with Saim Ayub, Azam Khan and Shadab Khan particularly beleaguered at present.
If the tendency to hop about from triumph to disaster without warning is a characteristically Pakistani trait, belief and self-confidence is unabashedly American. You couldn't set a better scene or plot more amenable circumstances for an upset, or at the very least a Texan thriller.
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