Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra criticised Pakistan’s performance in their opening game against the Netherlands at the 2023 World Cup by terming it as “lackluster”. Despite Pakistan winning the game by 81 runs, the Men in Green looked less impressive throughout the match against the lesser-ranked Dutch side.

Batting first in the game, it was a poor start for Pakistan, as they lost the first three wickets for just 38 runs inside the powerplay. However, Mohammad Rizwan (68) and Saud Shakeel (68) applied themselves in the middle overs to help their side post a total of 286 runs in the game.

Sharing his thoughts on Pakistan’s performance against the Netherlands, Aakash Chopra wasn’t too pleased with the performance of the Men in Green in the opening game, highlighting that no one expected them to get all out in flat wickets in Hyderabad against the Dutch bowling attack.

“They won, but what kind of win was that? They scraped through even though the margin of victory was a big one. No one expected the team to get all out on a flat pitch against the Netherlands – no disrespect. They stumbled to 38/3 and huffed and puffed their way to 286 in 49 overs. It was a lackluster performance by Pakistan,” Aakash Chopra said.

With 287 runs to defend in the game, Pakistan bowlers have bowled very well in the game and picked up wickets in the regular intervals to restrict the Dutch side to 205 runs, with Haris Rauf being the pick of the bowler in the game for the Babar Azam-led side.

Bas de Leede Is Going To Get An IPL Contract For Sure – Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra hailed Netherlands all-rounder Bas de Leede for his exceptional all-round show in the game against Pakistan in the opening game and believes that he has got ability to bag an IPL contract in the future. The former Indian opener also lauded the team for putting out a fighting performance against the top-ranked side in the campaign opener.

“You can talk about Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan, but the fact is more should be spoken about Bas de Leede. This team [Netherlands] did not play a single international match after the qualifiers.

“In spite of that, they came out and gave a tough fight on a flat pitch. Bas de Leede claimed four wickets; I felt he should have been the Man of the Match. He is going to get an IPL contract for sure,” Aakash Chopra added.

In the first innings, Bas de Leede took four wickets to restrict Pakistan to 286 before he flawlessly scored 67 of 68 deliveries being the lone bright for the Netherlands in the game and the 23-year-old would look to put up an impressive show in the upcoming games to showcase his talent against the high-quality opponents.