'Would've Lost Even With Wasim Akram': Pakistan Captain, Coach Brutally Mocked After T20 World Cup Exit
Pakistan bowed out of the competition on Saturday despite beating Sri Lanka by a narrow margin in Kandy.
Former wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif has blamed Pakistan's exit from the ongoing T20 World Cup on captain Salman Ali Agha and the coaching staff. Pakistan bowed out of the competition on Saturday despite beating Sri Lanka by a narrow margin in Kandy. After posting 212/8, Pakistan needed to restrict Sri Lanka to under 147 to surpass New Zealand on Net Run Rate, which would have taken them to the semi-finals. However, Sri Lanka captain's unbeaten knock of 76 off 31 balls took his team to 207/6.
In a scathing rant, Latif blasted Salman for his lack of game awareness, saying that a captain like him would have lost the game even if he had legends like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis in the side.
"Our problem has been batting. Today, all our specialist bowlers played and still gave away more than 200 runs. If you give players like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Shane Warne to this captain, he will still lose the match," Latif said on 'Haarna Mana Hai' show.
"What bowlers didn't you have? You had the likes of Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq, and Shadab Khan. Shadab Khan came to bowl in the 15th over. You had Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah also playing. Only one was dropped, and that was Saim Ayub. The blame goes to the captain, his game awareness," Latif said.
Latif also criticised Salman for not preserving an over for pacer Naseem Shah at the death, adding that he should have used up the spinners' quota much earlier.
"You bowled four overs of a pacer at the start. You should have kept Naseem Shah's overs as backup. Abrar should have bowled earlier. He gave you a wicket in the fifth over. I can understand that the batsmen couldn't score at the end, but you conceded more than 200 runs. The bowling let you down and put you out of the competition," he added.
He also blamed head coach Mike Hesson and his support staff for experimenting too much with the batting order.
"Batting wasn't an issue because these two batted brilliantly. But after that, the team management changed the batting order once again. You say, 'Nafay, you go; Shadab, you go and bat.' These coaches are the reason for the defeats," Latif said.
Pakistan Cricket Team