‘Had three debutants…’: Salman Agha defends Pakistan for their 9-wicket loss in T20I series opener to New Zealand

Pakistan team had three debutants in their T20I series against New Zealand. The Black Caps won the match by 9 wickets to spare.

Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand started with a horrible opening as they got bowled out for 91 runs and lost by nine wickets at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch. Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan were absent from the squad and the team registered their lowest score on New Zealand soil.

This also marked their lowest T20I score since the 2016 T20 Asia Cup, where they were bowled out for 83 by India. Pakistan team has three debutant players, who failed to perform as New Zealand pacers caused chaos.

On this instance, skipper Salman Agha came to the defence of the team and said, “It was difficult, we weren’t up to the mark, but we need to regather (ahead of Dunedin). They bowled really well, in great areas, there was a bit of seam movement as well. We will sit down, have a chat and think about the next game.”

“We had three debutants, the more games they play, they’ll learn more. The new ball does a bit in New Zealand, we’ve good bowlers and we’ll look to do well in the next match,” he added.

While defending a low score, debutant pacer Mohamed Ali gave out 25 runs in 3 overs without taking a single wicket. New Zealand chased the target with nine wickets and 9.5 overs to spare. However, Pakistan will have a chance to comeback as four matches still remain from the series.

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