Pakistan batter Imam-ul-Haq has shared an insight into how a defeat to India terribly affected the mentality of Pakistan players leading up to the 2023 ODI World Cup. Imam speaks about the 2023 Asia Cup, where Pakistan were handed a humiliating 228-run defeat by India, thereby also ending their hopes of winning the Asia Cup. In that game, Pakistan were bowled out for just 128, chasing India’s 356. Imam narrated the raw emotions of how that game, and then the loss to Afghanistan during the World Cup, completely shattered the confidence of the Pakistan team.
“The sudden loss to India in the Asia Cup (in 2023) started a downfall. The Asia Cup was a disaster. I saw several of our boys crying, a lot of them locked themselves in their rooms and many of them had stopped smiling,” narrated Imam on the Ultra Edge Podcast.
Following the defeat to India in the Asia Cup, Pakistan were again comprehensively beaten by India in the 2023 ODI World Cup. A few days later, Pakistan’s hopes of qualifying were almost dashed when they were beaten by Afghanistan as well. Imam said that these losses badly affected his teammates.
“I remember the exact picture after the Afghanistan match. Where I was sitting, where Babar (Azam) was, Haris (Rauf) and Shaheen (Afridi) were sitting in front of me and one of them was bitterly crying. Shadab (Khan) was sat in a corner,” Imam said.