Shoaib Akhtar (L), Mohammad Rizwan and Virat Kohli (R): (Source: AP)
Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar slammed the Pakistan cricket team after a defeat to India in the crucial ICC Champions Trophy match at the Dubai International Stadium. Pakistan went down to India by six wickets as their chances of reaching the semifinal nosedived. This was Pakistan's second defeat in as many games, having previously lost to New Zealand by 60 runs.
Akhtar lashed out at the team's 'brainless' strategy of playing five bowlers and said that he is not disappointed with the defeat as he knew what was about to come. “I am not disappointed at all (by the defeat to India) because I knew what would happen. You can’t select five bowlers, the whole world is playing six bowlers… you go with two all-rounders but this is just brainless and clueless management. I am really disappointed,” Akhtar said in a video.
Akhtar further said that Pakistan don't have the skill set of Indian players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill. “We can’t blame the kids (Pakistan players); The players are just as the team management is! They don’t know what to do. The intent is a different thing, they don’t have the skillsets like Rohit, Virat, and Shubman. Neither they know anything, nor the management. They have just gone to play without any clear direction. No one knows what they should do,” Akhtar added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan now have to depend on other results to qualify for the semifinal. If New Zealand lose to Bangladesh and India in their last two games by a big margin and Pakistan defeat Bangladesh convincingly, there is a slight possibility that they may qualify for the Champions Trophy semifinal. However, a qualification like this won't be a proud thing for Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan.
"As a captain, I honestly don't like this. If you can win, then do it. If you can't, then don't worry about it. I don't care if you are sitting in someone else's shadow.
"I don't care if you are outside the tournament or in it. Yes, New Zealand has defeated us; India has defeated us. We accept it. We can play well; we can play badly. We can't say that we should stay on someone else's side. Allah has made this a chance, we can't say anything about it," Rizwan said.
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