American fast bowler Ali Khan believes that their victory against Pakistan in the group stage of the T20 World Cup was not a lucky accident. Born in Pakistan, Ali mentioned that the USA preferred to beat Pakistan over India because of their past. The USA’s win over Pakistan was considered the biggest surprise of the tournament, helping the co-hosts of the T20 World Cup to advance to the Super 8 stage. It required a Super Over for the USA to achieve a significant win against Pakistan, with Ali describing the match as emotionally charged for clear reasons.
“If I had bowled the Super Over, everyone in Pakistan would have been upset with me. But, they didn’t let me do it. That was a smart decision because otherwise, I might not have been allowed to enter Pakistan. The match against Pakistan was very emotional because we hadn’t played a big team like that before. Playing against Pakistan in a World Cup, especially with their top players like Babar Azam, Rizwan, Fakhar, and Shaheen Afridi, was a huge deal. We had already played against Canada in our first match, but we usually play against them,” Ali explained during a talk on Caught Behind.
Talking about the USA’s improvement in the competition, Ali said that their victory in the series against Bangladesh before the T20 World Cup really boosted their confidence.
“The series win against Bangladesh before the World Cup was a big confidence booster. It was the first time we won a series against a Test playing nation. That made us feel very confident. We knew we could easily beat Canada and Ireland. Then we had to choose between India and Pakistan to see who we could beat. We believed we could beat Pakistan. We planned well and were in control from the first ball. Pakistan had a good time when Babar and Shadab were batting, but other than that, we were in charge,” he explained.
Ali described Pakistan as a team that’s hard to predict, explaining that they can either defeat you heavily or lose just as badly.
“If you check Pakistan’s past performances, they can either completely dominate you or fall apart. Fortunately, they fell apart this time. It was a fortunate day for us, and the victory was crucial,” he added.
The USA ended up in second place in Group A, following India, with a total of five points from their four matches.
