Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) president Ramiz Raja lashed out at the Babar Azam-led team for their poor performance in T20Is in recent times ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024. He said they had made a mistake with this equipment and you should stop experimenting.
The build-up to the T20 World Cup 2024 has not been good for the Pakistan cricket team. They have had some poor performances of late and this would surely have set off alarm bells for the team preparing for the event, which begins on June 1.
Pakistan’s road to the T20 World Cup began with a below-par performance for the New Zealand third team. Despite having a star-studded lineup, they failed to win the series as they earned a draw and faced a lot of criticism.
After that, they lost the match against Ireland in the three-match T20I series. But he managed to win the game by a slim margin. Their real test was against England, when the two teams met in the four-match series.
While both the games were washed out due to rain, Pakistan lost the remaining two matches and also lost the series. They looked clueless in both games as they put up a torrid performance with bat and ball and then came under fire.
Ramiz Raja also did not go easy on the Pakistan team as he stressed that they should stop experimenting. He added that the team needs to stay out of the strike rate issue because they don’t have the right players and come into the game with the right combination. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained:
“They should stop experimenting with the team. Go into a game with a proper combination. You have to get out of the phobia of attacking pace because you don’t have that type of player. Aapne is the team ka satyanash kar diya hai (You have made a Complete disaster with this team).
You have ruined the team by breaking the initial pairing (of Babar and Rizwan) – Ramiz Raja
Ramiz Raja further spoke about Pakistan opening up with Saim Ayub. He claimed that ever since Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan did not bat together at the top, the teams have gone bankrupt. He also spoke about poor bowling tactics and added that the entire team has been dismantled. He added:
“You have ruined the team by breaking the opening pair (of Babar and Rizwan). The role of the middle order is not defined. You have put all-rounders in the middle and two wicketkeepers are playing. You are changing the fast bowlers.
“Your spinners don’t spin the ball and they don’t have confidence. You left Imad Wasim out of the eleven. “There is no lateral movement and you have completely dismantled the team just before the World T20.”
Since the partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan broke down, Pakistan has struggled to get going. His batting seemed torrid as they did not achieve big totals. However, they opened the batting in the last T20I against England and could look to continue like this in the 2024 T20 World Cup.