Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq The team struck optimistic notes on Tuesday, insisting that the team can bounce back from their humiliating defeat to India in the T20 World Cup and still secure a spot in the next stage of the tournament.India’s 61-run victory has put Pakistan in a must-win situation. They now need to beat Namibia in their final Group A match in Colombo on Wednesday to secure a spot in the Super Eights. A defeat would end their campaign, with Pakistan currently ranked third in net run rate, behind the United States.
The Netherlands are also mathematically unlikely to advance, but that would require a substantial win against co-hosts India in Ahmedabad on the same day.“Improving the team only becomes difficult when you don’t work hard to correct the mistakes you made in the last game,” Tariq told reporters.“We’ve corrected our mistakes, so I don’t think it’s a difficult task.“We are determined not to make the same mistake again.”Pakistan were criticized for choosing to bat first against India and then were bowled out for 114 in the 18th over while chasing 176.“We can feel their (fans’) disappointment because the whole country is watching this game,” Tariq said.“So we feel their pain, but I believe when we play them (India) next, we will perform better.”He also denied such speculation Babar Azam Shaheen Shah Afridi may miss the Namibia game after a poor performance.“Both Azam and Shaheen have won a lot of games for Pakistan, so if they don’t perform well in a game, we shouldn’t exclude them,” Tariq said.Pakistan have played Namibia only once before in T20 internationals. Namibia, meanwhile, has lost all three of its group matches.“Whoever we play we are confident we can beat them and our goal is to reach the final and win the trophy and we will do our best to achieve that.”
