"Extremely sloppy bowling and extremely sloppy fielding" - Aakash Chopra on Mohammad Amir's Super Over in Pakistan's 2024 T20 World Cup loss to USA

Aakash Chopra has noted that extremely sloppy bowling and fielding in the Super Over cost Pakistan their 2024 T20 World Cup clash against the United States of America on Thursday, June 6. The USA scored 18 runs in the Super Over bowled by Mohammad Amir before Saurabh Netravalkar restricted Pakistan to 13/1 to seal an upset win.

Pakistan earlier set the United States a 160-run target after being asked to bat first in Dallas. The main game ended in a tie as Monank Patel and company reached 159/3 with the help of a four off the final ball.

Reflecting on the Super Over in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra noted that Amir's wayward bowling and Mohammad Rizwan's indifferent keeping helped the United States score 18 runs.

"I felt USA might get stuck because such games don't go to a Super Over. You should win very easily. You reached 159 with only three wickets down and a tactical error (sending Nitish Kumar ahead of Corey Anderson) had already happened. So you feel it might not happen now," he said (6:30).

"However, that wasn't the case. Mohammad Amir came to bowl and there were seven extras. All seven were not due to wides, but extras because Rizwan was missing the ball behind the wickets. They (USA) kept running. Extremely sloppy bowling and extremely sloppy fielding, and 18 runs were scored," the former India opener added.

Chopra noted that Amir didn't live up to expectations and Pakistan were under pressure once a tall target was set.

"Conceding 18 runs in the Super Over is way too much. It was unbelievable that so many runs were scored despite Mohammad Amir's experience. When 18 were scored, I remembered Ravi Shastri, their hearts were in their mouths," he observed.

Amir delivered three wides in the Super Over. Aaron Jones and Harmeet Singh also stole four byes of those wides to make Pakistan pay for their indiscretions.

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"USA pulled off an absolute blinder" - Aakash Chopra

Saurabh Netravalkar bowled a decent Super Over for the United States. [P/C: T20WorldCup/X]

Reflecting on Pakistan's chase, Aakash Chopra noted the United States of America pulled off a massive upset despite Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan's best efforts and Saurabh Netravalkar conceding a few extras.

"Iftikhar Ahmed was sent and Shadab Khan also came later. The first ball was a dot ball. Then Iftikhar hit a four for sure. However, after that, he lost his wicket. Milind Kumar took a very good catch running forward. Shadab Khan hit a four (leg-byes). Luck was in his favor slightly," he said in the same video.

"Saurabh Netravalkar, who used to play for India under-19, also bowled one or two wides. So in the Super Over, both Amir and Netravalkar bowled wides but in the end, seven were required off the last ball, which means a six would have given another tie. However, they didn't get that tie. USA pulled off an absolute blinder," Chopra added.

While Iftikhar scored four runs off three deliveries, Shadab managed three runs off as many balls, apart from four leg-byes. Fakhar Zaman, who walked out to bat with Iftikhar, didn't get to face a single delivery.