Former Pakistan cricket team captain Shahid Afridi expressed strong displeasure over the players’ performance following Pakistan’s defeat to the India cricket team in the ICC T20 World Cup and questioned the team’s overall strategy.
In Sunday’s crucial ICC T20 World Cup match, Pakistan suffered a comprehensive 61-run defeat against India. Batting first, India scored 175 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. In reply to the 176-run target, the Pakistani team was bowled out for 114 runs in 18 overs. Following the one-sided result, the national team has faced heavy criticism from fans and former cricketers.
Afridi stated that several mistakes were made during the match against India and acknowledged that India deserved the victory. He raised questions over the decisions of captain Salman Ali Agha, saying that not utilizing an important bowler like Usman Tariq for 10 overs was difficult to understand and negatively impacted the team.
He also criticized Shaheen Shah Afridi’s bowling, saying that his performance was not effective, while Faheem Ashraf was available as an alternative option. Afridi further said that if the decision were in his hands, he would rest Shaheen, Shadab Khan, and Babar Azam and provide opportunities to new players to inject fresh energy into the squad.
The former captain added that senior players are expected to perform better against major teams, but they have not been meeting those expectations. He emphasized that new players should be given a chance in the upcoming match against the Namibia cricket team to improve the team’s overall performance.
