“All the best”,Why Indian coach wants Pakistan to win their match against New Zealand?

Indian coach wishes Pakistan team the best of luck ahead of clash against New Zealand

After suffering a 9-run defeat against Australia in their final group stage match of the T20 World Cup, Indian head coach Amol Muzumdar admitted that things could have been different for his team if they had held on to couple of chances on the field.

At the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, India dropped 3 catches, missed a stumping and a run-out chance as Australia posted 151/8 in 20 overs, the highest total at this venue in the tournament so far.

In reply, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's valiant knock of 54 wasn't enough to save the Women in Blue as they finished the group stages with 2 victories and defeats each from 4 matches.

"I think we were right in the game, right till the last over. Just that experience of Australia saw them through. Just a little disappointed with the loss. I feel we've fielded pretty well. But if a couple of chances could have been taken, then things could have been different. Maybe 10 -15 runs less, but at the same time, I would like to say that we put in our best effort forward in this game," Muzumdar said after the match ended.

Muzumdar also revealed the chat that he had with Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma who formed a partnership of 63 from 55 balls to keep India in the hunt.

"First and foremost, it was about the run-chase. Second was keeping the net run rate also in bounds. But the only message was if we take it a little deeper, then we do have a good chance to chase. That was the only message to Harman and Deepti. I think Harman's presence was very important till the end, that is what I felt in the run chase, and almost got it through," Muzumdar said.

With Australia entering the semi-finals from Group A, it means India's chances of entering the last four phase are totally dependent on the New Zealand-Pakistan clash on Monday. A win for New Zealand will mean a league-stage exit for India. Muzumdar wished Pakistan the best of luck ahead of their match against the White Ferns.

“Well, I just want to wish Pakistan all the best. That's all I can say. But we will be watching the game very closely, that's for sure,”  Muzumdar said.

It will be interesting to see if Pakistan can come out victorious against New Zealand because if that happens then India will qualify for the semi-final stage due to their net run-rate being higher than the White Ferns.