With Pakistan set to take on Canada on Tuesday in New York in what looms as a must-win match for them, it is intriguing to know what are their chances of reaching the Super 8 stage of T20 World Cup 2024. Despite suffering two consecutive losses, Pakistan have a real chance of qualifying for Super 8.
Firstly, Babar Azam and co. must take care of the controllables, beat Canada and Ireland with a good margin to improve their net run-rate, which is currently -0.150. However, they also require favours from the remaining teams of Group A. India or USA must lose both their remaining matches; however, it is unlikely to happen for the former. Besides that, Canada must suffer defeats in both games.
"A lot of these guys have played a lot of T20 cricket around the world" - Gary Kirsten
Speaking at a presser ahead of Pakistan's match against Canada, head coach Gary Kirsten said the pressure will inevitably fall on the players in case of poor performance. Kirsten went on to warn that Pakistan players must evolve to stay relevant. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, he remarked:
"These guys are all international players and they're aware that when they're not performing at their best that there's going to be pressure put on them. That's understandable, but a lot of these guys have played a lot of T20 cricket around the world over many, many years and it's really up to them to decide how they're going to take their games forward."
Pakistan's batting unit is most under pressure, having failed to fire in both matches.
