PAK vs SL: Babar Azam blunders among three reasons why Pakistan failed to qualify for Asia Cup 2023 final

Add as a preferred source on Google

Pakistan's wait to win their first Asia Cup title since 2012 will continue after losing their must-win match against Sri Lanka on Thursday. Sri Lanka won a last-ball thriller to book a meeting with India in the final of Asia Cup 2023.

Pakistan were well on top after posting a 252-run target in 42 overs. But Sri Lanka rose up to the occasion to beat Pakistan for the first time in eight years. Sri Lanka, showed tremendous game sense and grit, to stun Pakistan who were marred by injuries of a couple of their premier pacers.

However, the absence of Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah were not the only two reasons why Pakistan were stunned by Sri Lanka. Following are the three reasons why Pakistan failed to qualify for the Asia Cup 2023 final .

Failure to pick wickets with new ball

Shaheen Afridi looked off-coloured after being hammered for 79 runs by India. The absence of Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf deteriorated the situation for Pakistan.

They failed to pick a wicket with the new ball and put on Sri Lanka who had the fan support behind them at the Premadasa. They were quick to post 77 runs for the loss of just one wicket in 13.1 overs. The third wicket partnership between Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama also accounted for 100 runs off just 98 balls.

Zaman Khan and Mohammad Wasim Jr came in for Naseem and Haris. The duo combined together to leak 64 runs in 9 overs without picking any wicket. Without a shadow of doubt, in the absence of Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, Sri Lanka batters got a free pass to score briskly.

Babar Azam's bizarre fielding placements and captaincy

Pakistan captain hasn't only looked off-coloured after scoring a hundred in the first match of the tournament against Nepal, his field placements have also been bizarre.

As Charith Asalanka played the ball behind square to run an easy double and win the last-ball thriller for Pakistan, Babar Azam himself seemed to be regretting his bad field placement. Before the delivery, Rizwan had seemingly wanted a different field placement to defend two on the last ball.

"For me, extremely ordinary captaincy as well. There was a four hit in Zaman Khan's over over mid-off and there was another four hit in Shaheen Shah Afridi's over over mid-off, and both those deliveries were slower ones," Gambhir said on Star Sports. "If you want to bowl slower ones, keep the mid-off fielder at long-off and bring the third man up. This is extremely simple captaincy. Imagine if you had 13 runs left in the last over, it would have been difficult for Sri Lanka," Gambhir told Star Sports after the match.

He did not opt to go with his strike bowlers despite a solid stand brewing between Mendis and Samarawickrama. The slip fielders were missing when Sri Lanka were reduced to 73/2. He repeated that mistake he committed after his bowlers reduced India to 66/4 in the league stage and allowed the opposition to take easy singles and doubles, paving way to an easy recovery.

Babar Azam's body language as a captain looked very off.

Lack of a quality spinner

Playing the spinners under lights has always been difficult in Colombo but Pakistan could not stop Sri Lanka from registering their third-highest successful chase in the Asia Cup 2023.

Shadab Khan, like the entirety of the tournament, could not impress and finished with figures of 1/55 in nine overs. Left-hand spinner Mohammad Nawaz was economical but could not take a single wicket in his seven-over spell.

Pakistan's sixth bowler and part-time off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed was Pakistan's most successful bowler. He picked three crucial wickets but at an economy rate of 6.2. Pakistan spinners failed the test on the big occasion. Iftikhar Ahmed (4 wickets) was the highest-wicket taker for Pakistan among spinners in the Asia Cup 2023.