New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) Former Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad delivered a sharp critique of the national side’s leadership following Pakistan’s 2-1 ODI series defeat to Bangladesh, warning that the team’s standards were declining at an alarming rate.
Pakistan suffered an 11-run defeat in the third and final ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, handing Bangladesh the series victory. The loss came under the captaincy of Shaheen Shah Afridi, with Mike Hesson serving as head coach.
Reacting to the result, Shehzad criticised the team management for what he described as a failure to address deeper problems following Pakistan’s underwhelming performance at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
“After the pathetic T20 World Cup campaign, you did not make any changes. You brought youngsters out of nowhere. Now you have lost the series and you are giving excuses of having youngsters in the playing XI. When you don’t accept your mistakes, you will never move ahead in life,” Shehzad said on his YouTube channel.
Pakistan entered the series without senior batters Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman, though the reasons for their absence remained unclear. While Afridi and Hesson indicated the pair had been rested, chief selector Aaqib Javed later stated that both players were carrying injuries from the recent T20 World Cup.
Shehzad also questioned Pakistan’s tactical approach in the series decider, particularly Afridi’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss, saying, “When you won the toss, why did you decide to bowl? It was a good pitch. You should have batted and put runs on the board, then bowled under lights. When your senior players behave like this, what do you expect from the youngsters?”
Bangladesh’s victory was set up by a composed century from Tanzid Hasan, who struck 107 off 107 deliveries to help the hosts post 290 for five. Pakistan’s response was anchored by Salman Ali Agha, who produced a determined 106, but the visitors were eventually bowled out for 279. Taskin Ahmed played a key role with the ball, claiming four wickets to seal the win for Bangladesh.
The series defeat follows Pakistan’s disappointing campaign at the T20 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the Super 8 stage, marking the fourth successive ICC tournament in which the team has failed to reach the semi-finals.
Shehzad dismissed management's attempts to soften the criticism surrounding the team’s recent results, stating, “You say you beat Australia and South Africa, but they never played their full-strength teams. If you wanted to fix Pakistan cricket, you would have done it by now.”
In one of his strongest remarks, Shehzad warned that Pakistan’s stature in international cricket was rapidly diminishing.
“You are becoming an associate team. People are now treating Pakistan like Zimbabwe. And then you say we crashed out of the World Cup due to run rate. Have some shame,” he said.
--IANS
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