Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria unleashed a stinging attack on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after Babar Azam and his teammates were eliminated from the ICC T20 World Cup.
Pakistan’s campaign began with a disappointing defeat in Group A against co-hosts the United States of America (USA). They were then outclassed by arch-rivals India in a low-scoring game. With India extending its unbeaten run in Group A, the United States outperformed Pakistan in the Super 8 race by finishing second.
While India and the United States moved to the knockout stages of the ICC event from Group A, Babar’s Pakistan exited the T20 World Cup after defeating Ireland in their final match on Sunday.
Reflecting on Pakistan’s poor campaign at the highest level, veteran spinner Kaneria slammed the PCB for relying primarily on Babar and drafting a ‘useless team’ for the ICC tournament.
Kaneria also cited commentators comparing Babar to batting legend Virat Kohli in his scathing critique of Pakistan’s struggling team.
“You select the useless team and repeatedly depend on Babar-Rizwan, Babar-Rizwan, what is this? Till when we will tolerate these names. Whenever any major tournaments come, they fail to create that impact. They only score runs against teams like Zimbabwe and Ireland and they start comparing Babar Azam with Virat Kohli,” Kaneria told SportsNow.
In Pakistan cricket, politics is everything: Danish Kaneria
Gary Kirsten, Pakistan’s head coach, is also said to have been brutally honest about the team’s performance. According to Pakistani media reports, Kirsten claims that the Pakistani team lacks cohesiveness. Kirsten led India to its second World Cup title victory in 2011.
Kaneria added that the Pakistan Cricket Board brought in Gary Kirsten as the white-ball team head coach after seeing his previous achievements, but Kirsten was no magician to turn Pakistan’s fortunes around in one tournament.
Kaneria also added that Kirsten will need some time to understand the politics in the Pakistan team and cricket before he can help the team.
“You decided to bring in a new coach, Gary Kirsten, who helped India win the World Cup and cannot do wonders in just a few months. He’s not a magician. In Pakistan cricket, politics is everything. Gary will need a lot of time to understand the politics and accordingly, he’ll start working,” Kaneria added.
Pakistan team now has no international cricket till August, when Bangladesh comes for a two-Test series.