'Iss se achha unfit, motey players khila lo': Pakistan legend calls Babar's side 'bacchon ki team' in massive outburst
The Pakistan great didn't mince his words as he tore down the team management after the side's T20I series loss to England.
Pakistan conceded a heavy 67-run loss in the deciding final match of the seven-match T20I series against England on Sunday night. After conceding 209/3 in 20 overs, Pakistan were restricted to 142/8 after both of their openers – Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam – were dismissed in single figures. Even as Shan Masood smashed a half-century (56), it wasn't enough as the rest of the middle-order failed to step up as the side lost the series 3-4.
Pakistan's middle-order crisis has been prevalent since the Asia Cup last month, and many former cricketers from the country have lashed out at the batters' inconsistent performances in the shortest format of the game. Following their loss in the final match of the series, Pakistan's spin great Saeed Ajmal also attacked the middle-order batters for another failure, and angrily suggested that the selectors could instead look at unfit players who can bat well.
“They completely outclassed us. Bilkul bachho ki team lag rahi thi Pakistan, itne bechaare lag rahe the. Itna maara hai inn logon ne. Jis tarah ke momentum se vo khelte hain, uss tarah se hamein bhi khelna chahiye. Aap logon ke andar itna khauf hai ki 'hamein select kiya jaayega ya nahi' (Pakistan were playing like kids. England really hit them all over the park. We need to play with the same intensity as them, but most of our cricketers play in fear over their spot in the XI),” Ajmal said on his official YouTube channel.
“Fear se aap khelenge toh aap fail honge. Fearless cricket khelenge toh kaamyaab honge. Ek match me achha kheloge aur 10 match bure khel jaate ho, pata nahi kaisi training kar rahe ho. Iss se achha toh vo unfit, mote-mote players khila lo, Sharjeel Khan ko khila lo, Azam Khan ko khila lo (If you play with fear, you will fail. You need to play fearless cricket. These guys play well in one match and then fail in 10. It's better if you play unfit, fat players instead. Sharjee, Azam can be given chances).”
Further vouching his support for Azam Khan, Ajmal stated that he can do a better job than Mohammad Haris, who is the second-choice wicketkeeper-batter in the squad.
“Aapne Haris ko rakh liya. Iss se sau guna behetar Azam Khan hai. Fearless cricket khelta hai, maarta toh hai kam se kam. Strike rate toh hai uska (You selected Haris but Azam has a hundred times better. He plays fearless cricket, he at least plays aggressively),” said Ajmal.
Pakistan will return to action on October 7 when the side takes on Bangladesh in the first match of the T20I tri-series involving New Zealand.