A Look at Pakistan’s T20I Performance in 2022 [Year in Review]

2022 brought a lot of ups and downs for Pakistan in the shortest format of the game. The Men in Green were inconsistently consistent [yet again] throughout the year, staying true to their mercurial tag.

The Green Shirts played a total of 26 T20Is in the year including the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup. Out of the 26 T20Is, Pakistan won 14 and lost 12, including heartbreaking losses in the final of both the mega-events. Let’s have a look at Pakistan’s performance in the T20I format over the past year.

One-off T20I Against Australia

Pakistan’s first T20I of 2022 came against a strong Australian side on their historic tour of the country. The match played at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, was won by the Kangaroos as they defeated the Men in Green by 3 wickets. The Green Shirts looked like a shadow of themselves as they were unable to trouble the Australian side in favorable home conditions.

2022 Asia Cup

After the disappointing loss to Australia at home, Pakistan traveled to UAE to take part in the 2022 Asia Cup. The Men in Green had a daunting task at hand as they faced arch-rivals, India in their opening encounter before facing Hong Kong in the group stage phase of the competition.

The opening match between the arch-rivals was yet another classic between the two teams but unfortunately for Pakistan, they ended up on the losing side as India chased a miserly target of 148 with five wickets in hand and two balls to spare.

Pakistan won their second match in the competition comfortably as they defeated Hong Kong by 155 runs and qualified for the super 4s of the competition. The super 4s brought forward some classics as Pakistan faced India for the second time in the tournament, while they also faced Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

The Green Shirts avenged their group-stage defeat as they defeated India in yet another thriller. This time Pakistan mastered the run-chase as they won the match by five wickets with one ball to spare.

Pakistan’s next match against Afghanistan was even more thrilling as the Men in Green clinched victory from the jaws of defeat. Pakistan struggled as they were 9 down chasing a low target of 130 runs as Afghanistan looked certain to win the match. With 12 runs to chase in the last over, Naseem Shah shocked the world as he struck 2 back-to-back maximums to hand Pakistan the victory and help them qualify for the final of the tournament.

Pakistan faced Sri Lanka in their next two matches, the first one a dead rubber in the Super 4s while the second one the final of the tournament. The super 4s encounter was won by Sri Lanka with relative ease as they dismissed Pakistan for 121 and chased down the target with five wickets in hand.

The Shaheens looked to avenge their defeat as they faced Sri Lanka in the final but ultimately fell short as Sri Lanka put up an amazing comeback to win the match by 26 runs. Pakistan’s dreams of lifting the Asia Cup trophy were shattered as Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s sensational knock helped Sri Lanka win their 6th Asia Cup title.

Here is the breakdown of Pakistan’s results:

England’s T20I Tour of Pakistan

After a heartbreaking loss in the final of the Asia Cup, Pakistan turned its attention to the 2022 T20 World Cup. The Men in Green hosted England for a seven-match T20I series in preparation for the mega-event as both the teams looked to try new combinations ahead of the tournament.

The two teams battled tooth and nail throughout the series as they put on a classic. England won the first match by 5 wickets before Pakistan leveled the series with a thumping 10-wicket win. Pakistan gained a 3-2 lead in the series before England fought back to win the last two matches of the series and emerged victorious by 4-3 in the seven-match series.

Here is the breakdown of Pakistan’s results:

Tri-Series in New Zealand

The Men in Green traveled to New Zealand next as they faced Kiwis and Bangladesh in a tri-series in preparation for the 2022 T20 World Cup Downunder. Each team played against the other twice in the competition before the top two sides met in the final.

The Green Shirts won both of their encounters against Bangladesh while they won one and lost one against New Zealand in the group stage. Kiwis and Shaheens met each other in the final of the tri-series in Christchurch on 14 October.

New Zealand posted a total of 163/7 in their 20 overs with Kane Williamson leading the way with a brilliant half-century. Pakistan chased down the target with five wickets in hand and three balls to spare thanks to a solid contribution from the middle order. Mohammad Nawaz was the star of the show with a quickfire 38 off 22 balls while Haider Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed played marvelous cameos to help Pakistan to a morale-boosting victory just prior to the mega-event.

Here is the breakdown of Pakistan’s results:

2022 T20 World Cup

The Men in Green looked determined to win their second T20 World Cup title as they headed to Australia on the back of an impressive tri-series win in New Zealand but it was not going to be an easy task as they faced India in their opening match before facing the likes of South Africa and Bangladesh in the group stage.

Pakistan commenced its campaign against India in front of a jam-packed crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium. The highly-pulsating match was an instant classic as both teams fought till the last ball of the match. Ultimately India emerged victorious due to a masterclass by Virat Kohli as he snatched an unlikely victory for the Men in Blue.

The Green Shirts looked to put the heartbreaking loss behind them as they faced Zimbabwe next in the competition. While it looked like an easy win on paper, Zimbabwe had other ideas as they shocked the cricketing world by defeating pre-tournament favorites by one run. The Men in Green were on the verge of being knocked out of the competition and only a miracle could save them.

Pakistan then got back to winning ways as they defeated the Netherlands and followed it up with a sensational win over South Africa. Pakistan’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals were pinned on the shoulders of the Netherlands as a victory for them against mighty South Africa would open a door for Pakistan.

The Netherlands caused a massive upset as they defeated South Africa while Pakistan won their match against Bangladesh to qualify for the semi-finals, where they faced an in-form New Zealand.

Pakistan steam-rolled past the Kiwis as they defeated them by 7 wickets and booked their place in the final against favorites England. Just as in the Asia Cup final, Pakistan suffered another heartbreaking loss as England chased down a miserly target of 138 with 5 wickets in hand and an over to spare.

Here is the breakdown of Pakistan’s results in the 2022 T20 World Cup:

Here is Pakistan’s overall record in 2022:

Here is the breakdown against every opposition:

Follow ProPakistani on Google News & scroll through your favourite content faster!