Former Pakistan captain Inazamam-ul-Haq highlights the importance of strike rate in T20 cricket
In T20 cricket, the necessity of having a high strike rate was emphasized by Inzamam-ul-Haq, who served as the captain of Pakistan for several years. He referred to the innings scored by Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga in the Asia Cup final as “amazing,” noting that if they had been scored at a more leisurely pace, Sri Lanka would have been restricted to scoring just 140 runs.
Sri Lanka, at one time, was tottering at 58 for five after 8.5 overs. After that came the crucial innings of 71* off 45 by Bhanuka Rajapaksa and 36 off 21 by Hasaranga, which brought salvation to Sri Lanka. As a direct result of this, Sri Lanka completed their innings with a respectable score of 170 runs after losing six wickets over the course of 20 overs.
On his YouTube channel, Inzamam said that Hasaranga’s score of 31 (36 runs) and Rajapaksa’s score of 71 were, respectively, “two excellent knocks. The speed at which the runs were scored as well as the circumstances from where the runs were made calls for an impressive sight.
“Had the 70 runs been scored at a more leisurely rate, the final score would have only been about 140, which Pakistan would have been able to chase down,” Inzamam said.
The former Pakistan batter praised Sri Lanka for their efforts and said that even though the squad lacked experience, they had done their research well. However, he believed that Pakistan did not play very well during the match. So, those 70 runs would have been of little value.
“None of Sri Lanka’s pacers have any previous experience, and all of them are new to the team, but they have come prepared and have done their research. Pakistan performed well in the tournament but not in this match. It was easy to see several of their shortcomings. They were unable to capitalize on the pressure, which had previously assisted them in reducing Sri Lanka’s score to 58-5 at one point in the game,” he added.
Wasim Akram, Gautam Gambhir, and Sanjay Manjrekar were among those who criticized Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan for playing a slow inning of 55 runs off 49 balls. As a result, Pakistan fell short by 23 runs thanks to a match-winning spell by Hasaranga, who finished with three for 27 in four overs.
