No member of the Pakistan cricket team seems safe after the unit's early ICC Champions Trophy exit. Pakistan, courtesy of their defeats against New Zealand and India in the two Group A matches, have already been eliminated from the semi-finals race. Former Pakistan women's cricket team captain Sana Mir, in a conversation with other former cricketers, shared her blunt analysis, saying even a legendary captain like MS Dhoni or Younis Khan would not have succeeded in saving this group of players.
Sana's comments came after Pakistan suffered a demoralising 6-wicket defeat against India in Dubai. Recalling her conversation with a friend as the match proceeded, Sana said that she had predicted the team's downfall the moment Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the 15-member squad.
"I got a message from a friend when we were watching the match [against India]. When the second wicket fell at 100, my friend said, 'I think it's over.' I told my friend, 'No, it was over when we announced the squad.' We had lost more than half of the tournament the day we picked these 15 players," she said on Game On Hai show.
"You could make MS Dhoni or Younis Khan the captain - none of them could do anything with this team. It's not suited to our conditions. Like Hafeez bhai said, one match was bound to be in Dubai. So how did we go in with just two part-time spinners? Abrar is still new to ODIs, and he has taken only two wickets in the last five months," she added.
Mohammad Rizwan's men have been lambasted repeatedly over their repeated failures. Sana even questioned Mohammad Haris' omission from the squad, suggesting he was dropped despite showing 'intent'.
"We talk about intent, and that boy plays with intent. But you drop him after he fails in West Indies matches. What incentive does he have to play freely when selection is based on averages?"
Sana feels the some people in the system have 'too much power', which needs to change.
"Too much power is not good, and too little power is not good either. If we keep making the same mistakes, nothing will change. Unfortunately whenever there has been a change in PCB, one person will come and say how domestic things should be. The people below him do not say anything, and nothing changes."