After winning the first T20I against England, Pakistan went into the second game high on confidence. They scored 232 runs in the first match while batting first and successfully won the game by 31 runs. However, Babar Azam won the toss in the second game and elected to bowl first. This surprised many as they had just won a game batting first and there was no reason to change something that had worked.
Pakistan’s legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar was among those who failed to understand the decision taken by Pakistan’s management. He has always been known for being vocal with his opinions and did the same this around as well. Shoaib Akhtar said he did not understand the logic of bowling first on what was a great batting pitch.
It is noteworthy that bowling first has become a trend in T20 cricket. Teams prefer to know how much they need to chase in order to pace their innings accordingly. To add to this, England have one of the best batting line-ups in the world and are capable of chasing any given total. Keeping all this in mind, Pakistan’s decision to bowl first does seem justified.
