Pakistan's Umar Akmal is bowled out by India's Harbhajan Singh, not seen, during the Cricket World Cup semifinal match between Pakistan and India in Mohali. -Photo by AP

LAHORE: Sloppy fielding and poor shot selection by batsmen led to Pakistan’s defeat against India in the nerve-racking semi-final of the ICC World Cup in Mohali.

This was stated by former chief selectors Salahuddin Ahmad Sallu, Iqbal Qasim and Abdul Qadir who spoke to Dawn after Afridi and Co’s 29-run loss on Wednesday.

“Dropping as many as seven catches was just too much in such a huge game because it allowed India to post a fighting total of 260,” both Sallu and Iqbal stated after the clash.

“Our batsmen also were guilty of poor shot selection and gave away their wickets cheaply.”

Commenting on the erratic spells of main strike bowler Umar Gul, both former cricketers agreed that the bowler had preferred to bowl with speed but without any wisdom and conceded too many runs which proved costly in the end.

“Despite conceding a good number of runs, Umar did not change his strategy and was mauled in crucial stages,” Salahuddin pointed out.

Sallu also lauded the fantastic performance of young pacer Wahab Riaz, who bagged five wickets in a crunch game when his senior Umar Gul failed.

However, Iqbal said despite poor fielding, Pakistani bowlers had done a good job to restrict India to 260.

“The total was achievable if our batsmen had played with concentration and skill. But most of them fell to wrong selection of shots,” said Iqbal.

“The manner in which Hafeez, Asad Shafiq and others got out was irresponsible stuff,” Iqbal regretted.

Praising the overall show of the team in the mega event, the ex-leggie said Pakistan played fairly well in the tournament to qualify for the semi-final against all odds.

Former leg-spinner and chief slector Abdul Qadir also lashed out at poor fielding. “If our fielders had held all those chances, we would have dismissed India for around 200 which was gettable by any standards,” said Qadir.

“Getting 260 under lights was not easy for our batters, but I think we also panicked for no rhyme and reason and lost the contest which is disappointing.”