Pakistan suffered a shambolic 61-run defeat in their T20 World Cup 2026 clash against arch-rivals India at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, February 15. While the bowling effort was decent from the Men in Green, the performance from the batters left a lot to be desired.
Chasing a 176-run target, Pakistan lost the wicket of Sahibzada Farhan in the first over itself. Jasprit Bumrah came on to bowl the second over and got hit for a six first ball. However, Ayub was lucky as it went flying off the top edge. On the very next ball, Ayub tried to hit the Indian spearhead across the line but couldn’t get his bat down in time. The ball wrapped on his front pad, and umpire Kumar Dharmasena raised his finger in quick time.
Former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara mentioned that Ayub didn’t choose the right option while trying to attack the experienced right-arm fast bowler.
“I wouldn’t be running at Bumrah. I am not sure he’s the right guy to run at. There’s other ways you can skin a cat but that is definitely the wrong way to take Bumrah down. Be running at him. He has got a gun slower ball and swings it both ways late. If you are running at him, you are making life very difficult for yourself,” Bopara said on the ‘Beard Before Wicket’ podcast.
You don’t have to slog him to show everybody that you can smack him: Moeen Ali
Another former England all-rounder, Moeen Ali, also suggested that Ayub should have tried playing normal cricketing shots instead of going for expansive hits. He also mentioned Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha’s dismissal at the end of the same over. The right-handed batter tried to hit across the line and was caught by Hardik Pandya.
“If you have watched Bumrah enough, you know he swing the ball late to lefties. He is not easy to pick as he bowls in front of his face. He has got such good wrists. So him, you just try and play normal good shots. Salman Agha also goes across the line to him. You’ve already got 12 of his over. You don’t have to slog him to show everybody that you can smack him,” Ali said.
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