"I have never seen anyone giving such a massive punishment for a dropped catch" - Ramiz Raja on Pakistan's World Cup 2023 loss to Australia

Ramiz Raja has pointed out that Pakistan were made to pay dearly for Usama Mir's dropped catch of David Warner in their World Cup 2023 loss to Australia.

Warner was put down on 10 and went on to smash a 124-ball 163 as the Aussies set the Men in Green a 368-run target in Bengaluru on Friday, October 20. They then bowled out Babar Azam and company for 305 to win the match by 62 runs and displace them from the fourth spot in the points table.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Raja was asked about his thoughts on Pakistan's defeat, to which he responded:

"I have never seen anyone giving such a massive punishment for a dropped catch. A lot of catches are dropped but I have never seen anyone scoring 150-160. So it is a wake-up call for Pakistan that you will keep getting punished until you hold catches."

The former Pakistan batter feels their next game against Afghanistan won't be an easy affair. He reasoned:

"Once you lose the momentum, it is difficult to get it back and win. The next match is against Afghanistan in Chennai, which will not be an easy match as Pakistan's batters don't play spin that well."

Pakistan will face Afghanistan at Chepauk in Chennai on Monday, October 23. Hashmatullah Shahidi and company have already stunned England earlier in the tournament and will want to add another big scalp to their kitty.

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"This bowling was world-class a month ago and massive discussions need to happen if you concede 365" - Ramiz Raja on Pakistan

The Australian openers took Pakistan's bowlers to the cleaners. [P/C: AP]

Ramiz Raja was hugely disappointed with Pakistan's bowling performance against Australia. He elaborated:

"A lot of things need to be corrected. This bowling was world-class a month ago and massive discussions need to happen if you concede 365 - when you do defensive bowling, why can't you bowl length balls consistently, or why you are unable to bowl wicket-taking balls."

Raja also criticized the Pakistan batters for failing to post tall scores. He said:

"Pakistan freeze whenever they get a slightly stiff opposition. The World Cup campaign suffers a setback like this. If you don't win, you forget how to win. Australia showed how you can bat on a good pitch. 60s and 70s look good but you don't win the match with that, I am talking about Pakistan."

Imam-ul-Haq (70) and Abdullah Shafique (64) were the only half-centurions in Pakistan's innings. Although the duo gave their team a solid start, they kept losing wickets at regular intervals because of the mounting asking rate and eventually fell well short of the target.