Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf thinks that the Men in Green made a mistake of opting to bowl first against Australia in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India, on Friday.
Batting first, Australia posted 367 runs on the scoreboard courtesy of a 259-run stand from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, recording the biggest total against Pakistan in the World Cup.
Yousuf, 49, opined Pakistan should have opted to bat first on a flat Bengaluru pitch which offer runs due to small dimensions.
"The decision to field first did not go well for Green Shirts. The flat pitch of Bengaluru gives a high score. The team should have opted batting and set a high score,” Yousuf posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“A good game though! Better luck next time,” he added.
The Aussies managed to restrict the Green Shirts to 305 runs after posting a colossal 368-run target
Pakistan were off to a great start as their opening duo of Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique had a 134-run partnership — the first time a Pakistani opening pair had a century stand against Australia in a World Cup match.
Pakistan were 154-2 in 23.4 overs — after losing Abdullah and Imam — and were in dire need of a big partnership to get back in the team but their skipper Babar Azam was removed by Adam Zampa just after scoring 18 runs courtesy of an excellent catch by Pat Cummins.
The Green Shirts kept on losing wickets at regular intervals but after the arrival of Iftikhar Ahmed, it looked like Pakistan would get in the game once again as the 33-year-old started hitting boundaries.
But Adam Zampa provided the Aussies the much-needed breakthrough and removed Iftikhar and Mohammad Rizwan in back-to-back overs.
Pakistan will now travel to Chennai to play Afghanistan on October 23 at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium