Karachi, March 1 While Pakistan may have ended their T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note, the team's overall performance in the tournament has cast a shadow over the country's cricket community.
"You get one chance every two years to showcase your country's cricketing excellence, and you fail again. It's very disappointing to see this," former captain and batting legend Javed Miandad said on Sunday.
The batting maestro stated that the more he observed T20 cricket, the more he realized that it has become a very structured format, and Pakistani players are struggling to keep pace with other teams.
Miandad expressed concern over the team's performance against higher-ranked teams, and emphasized that the Pakistan Cricket Board needs to make some decisive decisions.
Former captain Mohammad Yousuf said that some players had been given too many opportunities to establish themselves in T20 cricket, and they have failed to perform well in major events.
"It's time to move on and learn from our mistakes," he said.
Former captain Moin Khan stated that until Pakistan can defeat higher-ranked teams, they will never win an ICC event.
"You can't win a major tournament unless you have the ability to beat top teams. Unfortunately, we have made too many mistakes in selection and on the field. More importantly, our key players underperformed in the World Cup," he lamented.
Former captains Babar Azam, incumbent captain Salman Ali Agha, and other senior players such as Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Mohammad Nawaz are facing intense criticism. Agha is expected to step down from his leadership role after returning home.
Saqlain Mushtaq, who has also coached Pakistan in the past, has also faced criticism for trying to defend his son-in-law Shadab's performances by blaming head coach Mike Hesson.
"I don't think former players who act as experts on these shows should do so if they have close relatives and family members playing in the team. Their analysis is clearly biased," said cricket writer Omair Alavi.
