Naseem Shah reflects on Pakistan's loss, eyes improvement against India
What's the story
Pakistan's fast bowler Naseem Shah has expressed his disappointment after the team lost to New Zealand in the Champions Trophy opener.
The 60-run defeat was a huge blow for Pakistan, who are hosting a global tournament after nearly three decades.
The defeat has now put additional pressure on the hosts as they gear up for their next match against arch-rivals India in Dubai.
Here's more.
Strategy revision
Shah emphasizes need for improvement
Shah emphasized the need to learn from mistakes and step up their game.
"When you don't start well, it's natural to feel disappointed. There are quite a few things we need to fix before the next important match," he told reporters as quoted by Geo News.
"The last six to eight overs didn't go the way we wanted them to. We need to look at how we can improve in those areas in the next matches," Shah added.
Pitch analysis
Shah comments on challenging pitch conditions
Shah also spoke about the difficult pitch conditions in Karachi, which suited batters and made it hard for bowlers to contain runs.
"On pitches like these, bowlers don't get much help. Big scores are very much likely here," he said.
His comments underline the importance for Pakistan's bowling unit to adjust their plans according to different pitch conditions as they progress in the tournament.
Match recap
New Zealand tame Pakistan in ICC Champions Trophy opener
An all-round New Zealand side beat defending champions Pakistan in match number 1 of the ICC Champions Trophy in Karachi on Wednesday.
Centurions Will Young (107) and Tom Latham (118*) were brilliant.
Glenn Phillips scored a whirlwind knock as New Zealand posted 320/5 in 50 overs.
In response, Babar Azam and Khushdil Shah's fifties weren't enough as Pakistan (260/10) suffered a big defeat.
Will O'Rourke and Mitchell Santer shined for NZ bagging three wickets each.
Bowlers
A look at Pakistan's bowling effort in the opener
Haris Rauf was expensive for Pakistan returning with figures worth 2/83 in his 10 overs.
Shah picked 2/63 from his 10 overs.
However, their star bowler Shaheen Afridi went wicketless (0/68) in his 10 overs.
Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed picked 1/47 from his 10 overs, while Khushdil finished with zero wickets for 40 runs in his seven overs.
Stats
Shah shy of three wickets for 50 ODI scalps
With his two-fer against NZ, the pacer now owns 47 ODI wickets while averaging 23.08.
He boasts an economy rate of 5.33, alongside two five-wicket hauls. His best ODI figures are worth 5/33 he bagged against the Netherlands.
According to ESPNcricinfo, he has managed 22 scalps at home at 24.09 across 11 ODIs.
Shah also owns 55 List A wickets in 30 innings, (AVG: 23.01).