Former cricketer Rashid Latif has lashed out at Pakistan after their dismal defeat against Team India in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. The Men in Green started their campaign on a promising note.
In their tournament opener, they beat the Netherlands by 81 runs before chasing down a record total of 345 against Sri Lanka. But the form and momentum counted for little against India as the hosts inflicted a humiliating 7-wicket defeat on the Babar Azam-led side. Asked to bat first, Pakistan were on 155 for 2 at one stage and were looking destined to post a big total.
However, an inexplicable collapse saw them getting bowled out for 191. In reply, India chased down the total with utmost ease. Captain Rohit Sharma led the charge with an 86-run knock as the Men in Blue registered their eighth victory over Pakistan in the World Cup.
Following the loss, Rashid Latif slammed the Pakistan team and stated that Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are the only players in the team who knew how to play ODI. He also opined that political interference is ruining Pakistan cricket.
“The continuous political interference is ruining Pakistan cricket. I know I might create a controversy but we lost the T20 World Cup a year ago. These are T20 cricketers, who have the mindset of playing in that way. Barring Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, none of the players knows how to play ODI cricket,” Rashid Latif wrote in his column for The Indian Express.
“In the past twelve months, we have seen three different persons heading the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). We have seen Ramiz Raja, then Najam Sethi, and now Zaka Ashraf is at the helm. And not to forget in the same timeline, we have had five selectors as well. Mohammad Wasim, Micky Arthur, Shahid Afridi, Haroon Rasheed, and now Inzamam-ul-Haq,” he added.
Rashid Latif slams selectors:
Writing further, Rashid Latif slammed the Pakistan selectors too. He highlighted that the likes of Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique, and Hasan Ali made it to the World Cup squad despite not being in contention. He also criticized the team management for dropping underperforming Fakhar Zaman from the playing eleven, writing:
“The selectors should also be blamed because there was no vision. Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique and Hasan Ali were not in contention a year ago, and suddenly they are in the ODI World Cup. Saud and Abdullah had never played a high-intensity game, and you cannot blame them.
“Fakhar Zaman was our main player for the past three years and all of a sudden he was dropped. I agree that he was not in good form, but in my opinion, he should have batted at No 4 to face Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav,” he added.
Rashid Latif is also not at all impressed with Pakistan’s approach in the 50-over format. The former wicketkeeper-batter stated that the team needs to come up with a new approach to do well in the ODIs as he expressed his disappointment, writing:
“Fakhar is the only guy who can play the counterattacking shots but he was warming the bench. Pakistan’s current ODI template is old. They want to follow the old ODI template of saving wickets till 40 overs and then target the last ten.
“The game has changed; we are still stuck in the past. This team is not playing modern-day cricket. We don’t have specialists; there is no X factor in the playing XI. There is a lack of merit in selection as well,” he added.
The post AUS vs PAK: Rashid Latif Slams Pakistan Players, Team-Management, Selectors After Embarrassing Loss vs India appeared first on CricketAddictor.
