Former New Zealand cricketer Ian Smith said Babar Azam did wrong by giving Mohammad Nawaz the last over against India in the ICC T20 World match at the MCG.
With 16 runs required off the last 6 balls, Nawaz got rid of Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik, but no-balls, wides and free hits didn’t help him. The Men in Blue won the game by 4 wickets.
“Pakistan helped them. I am not sure why Nawaz was given the last over. Babar made a mistake and paid for it,” he said.
“I thought he had another all-rounder who could have contributed one or two overs so that he could have planned better for the death overs,” Smith said in the ICC review.
Smith said Mohammad Rizwan was defensive as a wicket-keeper. “They got too defensive in the end with the wicket-keeper standing back on a spinner to prevent boundaries. They got it wrong. It was poor last over,” he added.