“They won, but what kind of win was that?” - Aakash Chopra terms Pakistan’s performance in 2023 World Cup match against Netherlands as “lackluster”

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has described Pakistan’s performance in their 2023 World Cup match against the Netherlands in Hyderabad as 'lackluster'. According to Chopra, while Pakistan registered victory by 81 runs, their performance was far from convincing.

The Dutch won the toss and opted to bowl first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday. Pakistan got off to a poor start, losing their first three wickets for just 38 runs. Half-centuries from Mohammad Rizwan (68) and Saud Shakeel (68), however, lifted them to 286. Pakistan’s bowlers then restricted the Dutch to 205 in 41 overs.

Despite what looked like a convincing win on paper, Chopra was not impressed by Pakistan’s performance. Sharing his thoughts on his YouTube channel [1:50], he opined:

“They won, but what kind of win was that? They scraped through even though the margin of victory was a big one. No one expected the team to get all out on a flat pitch against Netherlands - no disrespect. They stumbled to 38/3 and huffed and puffed their way to 286 in 49 overs. It was a lackluster performance by Pakistan.”

After three wickets fell early, Rizwan and Shakeel added 120 runs for the fourth wicket. Handy contributions from Mohammad Nawaz (39) and Shadab Khan (32) also helped the batting side’s cause.

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“I felt he should have been the Man of the Match” - Chopra on Bas de Leede’s all-round show

While Pakistan ended up winning the match rather easily in the end, Chopra was highly impressed with Netherlands cricketer Bas de Leede’s all-round brilliance. He opined that De Leede should have been named Player of the Match for claiming four wickets and scoring 67 runs.

Praising the Netherlands team, Chopra commented:

“You can talk about Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan, but the fact is more should be spoken about Bas de Leede. This team [Netherlands] did not play a single international match after the qualifiers. In spite of that, they came out and gave a tough fight on a flat pitch. Bas de Leede claimed four wickets; I felt he should have been the Man of the Match. He is going to get an IPL contract for sure.”

Chasing 287, the Netherlands were 120/2 in the 24th over. However, Haris Rauf (3/43) and Hasan Ali (2/33) came up with impressive efforts to stall the Dutch side’s progress.