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Cricket PlayersMohammad Hafeez tears into Salman Agha, wants captain to accept blunders for India debacle: ‘Pakistan are far behind’
Mohammad Hafeez was quick to underline that tactical mistakes cost Pakistan dearly in the match against India.
A string of tactical errors, starting from the toss and extending to the utilisation of bowling resources, culminated in Pakistan’s humiliating 61-run defeat to India in Colombo on Sunday. Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez did not hold back, demanding accountability from incumbent skipper Salman Ali Agha while also explaining why Pakistan continue to lag behind India in ICC tournaments.
Speaking on Pakistani news platform ‘Tapmad’, Hafeez first addressed the bigger picture. He argued that India’s dominance in ICC events stems from consistently high standards and a culture of meeting expectations, something he believes Pakistan have failed to replicate.
“To sum up the entire thing, we are very, very far behind India in terms of cricket, and we should accept that. There should be no embarrassment in that. This has happened because they set their standards very high. They wanted to beat Australia in Australia and England in England. But we never did that,” Hafeez said.
However, Hafeez was quick to underline that tactical mistakes cost Pakistan dearly in the match against India. He questioned Agha’s bowling decisions, particularly why the captain did not continue himself beyond the powerplay after conceding just 10 runs and taking a wicket in two overs on a surface assisting finger spinners.
“In this match, we made tactical blunders and underutilised our resources. You (Salman) bowled two overs with the new ball and saw there was assistance for finger spinners. You picked up a wicket and conceded just 10 runs. Then why didn’t you bowl a third over? Why bring in a mystery spinner who was not getting anything from that pitch?” he asked.
Another major talking point was the delayed introduction of Usman Tariq. With much of the pre-match focus centred around his potential match-up against India’s batters, Hafeez expected Pakistan to correct course immediately after the powerplay.
“After the sixth over, Hesson came onto the field. I thought Pakistan would rectify their tactical errors and bring Tariq straight away because Ishan was taking the game away from us. Tariq eventually bowled beautifully, but his usage was wrong. Why did we hold him back? He was your trump card,” Hafeez said.
“When Tariq was brought on, the game was already done. And that too, there was no slip. I feel Agha should take responsibility for this. And also the management, because they did not point this out,” he added.
Following the defeat, debate has intensified over potential changes to Pakistan’s squad. Hafeez acknowledged that senior players have repeatedly failed to deliver and must share the blame. However, he cautioned that merely bringing in new faces would not fix deeper issues unless leadership improves player utilisation.
“You can bring any team member, but if the usage is incorrect… Also, this was the same XI Pakistan played with, so they knew their roles. It was an execution error on their part. It’s time to blame the players, not just the coaches,” he said.
