Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq slammed Pakistan’s selections for the ICC T20 World Cup, citing the lack of specialist middle-order batters for their failure to qualify for the Super Eights stage of the competition.
Pakistan bowed out of the T20 WC held in West Indies and USA following a win over Ireland. Though they managed to win their remaining two games against Canada and Ireland, it was not enough as they had lost matches to the USA and arch-rivals Pakistan, which appeared winnable for the most part. Pakistan ended the group stage with two wins and two losses and a total of four points to finish in third place in Group A.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Inzamaam said, “Jis tarah ki selection hui hai, aisi selection nahi karni hai. Pehle se lekar paanchwi tak sab openers hi khel rahe hai. Koi middle-order hi nahi hai Pakistan me. Badi sharamindagi hoti hai ki poore Pakistan me koi middle order batsmen hi nahi hai, jisko hum select kar sake. (This is certainly not the way a team should be selected. From No. 1 to No. 5 all are openers. It is shameful that we cannot find middle-order batters in Pakistan).”
Notably in Pakistan’s top five, skipper Babar Azam, Mohammed Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub and Usman Khan, all of these have got experience as openers/top-order batters.
Inzamam pointed out that Pakistan’s struggles were not limited to T20 World Cup, but were seen during the Asia Cup as well last year, when it failed to make it to the final and crashed out in the Super Four phase. Leading up to the T20 WC, Pakistan had just won one out of six bilateral series, that too against Ireland. They lost a T20I series to Afghanistan and failed to notch wins against New Zealand and England.
Inzamam also noted that other than some performances from Babar, Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi, the team failed to do well as a unit.
“This struggle is not limited to the T20 World Cup. They struggled in a similar manner in the Asia Cup as well. Asia Cup is done. The ODI World Cup is done. Even in the 2-3 series after that Pakistan was never on top, never united. Individual performances was all you could see, sometimes from Babar, from Rizwan and from Shaheen. You did not see them perform as a unit,” he concluded.
Notably, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had Inzamam as the chief selector twice, once in 2016 and a second time in August 2023 ahead of the 50-over World Cup later that year. But after a disappointing tournament in India, former pacer Wahab Riaz was roped in as a selector. (ANI)
