New Zealand batter Martin Guptill outlined the point Pakistan gave away the T20 World Cup 2024 game to India in New York.
Babar Azam and Co. suffered a six-run defeat to their rivals and are on the back foot as far as the Super 8 qualification is concerned.
While talking on a local sports channel, Guptill said it was the 80-run mark during the chase, India took the game from Pakistan.
"Probably around the 80-run mark, I think. They just started to lose their way and pressure got to them and played rash shots which were not needed. It was due to frustration and not being able to score freely," he said.
"In these situations, a batter needs to put his ego aside and bat what is in front of you. A batter needs to ask, what do I need for the team at that time. New Zealand have done the same so well over the past 10 years under pressure and Pakistan batters needed to do the same," he added.
Meanwhile, Guptill is hopeful Pakistan can still come back and take learnings from the game.
"Pakistan have a big learning from this game and hopefully, moving forward they can do a lot better in the next two games and give themselves a chance to come back in the tournament," he concluded.
Pakistan’s irresponsible batting line-up threw away a golden opportunity to put the country’s campaign back on track, by failing to cross the line against India.
The reckless batting line-up fell miserably in pursuit of a meager 120 runs target and was restricted to 113 for 7 at the end to hand over an unlikely six-run win to arch-rivals.
The defeat has now left Pakistan with very few options as they are now waiting for the outcome of other matches before knowing well whether they would in a position to qualify for the next stage.
Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bowl first on a two-paced pitch where Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf picked up three wickets each while Rishabh Pant was India's biggest contributor with a quick knock of 42 as they were dismissed for 119.
In response, Mohammad Rizwan laid the platform for the chase with a patient knock of 31 but Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals while India's fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah made crucial dismissals to finish with figures of 3-14.
The result keeps India perfect in Group A with two wins from their opening two matches while Pakistan have zero points from two defeats following their upset by the hosts, the United States, in their first game.
They still have a chance to qualify for the Super 8s if they win their remaining matches, against Canada and Ireland, and hope other results go their way.
