T20 World Cup 2024 – Imad Wasim – Pakistan ‘bounce back’ in T20s, need to get over fear of failure

“I’m giving my personal opinion so don’t make the headlines,” he told a press conference on the eve of their final league game against Ireland in Lauderhill. “This is all your mind. Which mentality do you want to play this game with? You play fire with fire, or you play your way. I personally believe that you should play fire with fire. And even if you lose, you can sit down and tell yourself that that day was not enough.

“The problem is that our team is very good, our players are very good, that we can play any kind of cricket. We didn’t try that but the thing is you have to try that, you have to get rid of it. The fear of failure in everything – batting, bowling, fielding, you have to get rid of the fear failure doesn’t change anything, just changing your mind can change many things six, four, one, and the same ball can take a wicket and a dot ball.

“We are competing against the best teams in the world. Their mentality has changed over time. We were dominating in T20 cricket. I think we have gone back a bit. Maybe our mentality [needs a change] – in all three places. I will not say one place. If you change the mind of the player, you can reach things beyond your limits. I always believe in this. You can talk a lot, but it is what it is – today, we are out of the competition and whatever happens in the next World Cup, whoever plays, however he plays, I think if we go the right way, the results will be successful. it’s better for us.”

Another reason for fear of failure can be the subsequent personal attack. Imad was told about the reports that he was played even though he was not in a satisfactory condition. He was asked if he feels the team, but especially he and Mohammad Amir, who are both coming out of retirement, feel that they have not regained the hope they had. He was also asked whether his return is limited to this World Cup, and whether he will return to retirement after the Ireland game on Sunday.

Although there was a sense of “too soon” in these questions, Imad answered them calmly. He rejected these accusations about not being healthy, he said that he had not thought about his plans after the World Cup, and he also pointed out that cricket is a team game and is not won or lost by an individual. He reminded people that they are more disappointed than they are, and they should not be despised.

“Myself and our team, including myself, are very disappointed and saddened,” he said. “And the whole community is sad that we did not do well and believes that we are guilty. We are more disappointed than you. This is our job after all. But I also like to say that we are human, we can make mistakes and we are also affected by these things.”

Imad himself was a TV commentator when he retired, and used to criticize his current teammates. When asked to put on that analyst hat to review this performance, he suggested that kind of dispassionate analysis was perhaps the need of the hour.

“I have been talking about cricket [as an analyst],” said Imad. Cricketers should do their job and analyze cricket. They should tell you what is right and wrong without having to find out for yourself.

“I think we have to play the game the way world cricket is going. We have to adjust the way we play the game, the way we have to bring awareness, the way we have to rush, the way we have to look at the game…. but I don’t think Pakistan came out this way.

“But it’s about how you do after the fall? This is bad but who knows if this could be big for Pakistan? We can fix it, revisit it and start playing white-ball cricket the way it should be played.”