Unsatisfactory performance

Pakistan’s defeat against Afghanistan in the World Cup has shocked cricket fans. Fingers are being rightly pointed at selectors and the team management for this defeat, but individual players and the captain cannot be absolved of their responsibilities. Back-to-back defeats in the Asia Cup should have allowed our team to take corrective measures for the World Cup but it seems that no lessons were learnt from an unsuccessful tournament.

Babar Azam is a good batter, but the pressure of captaincy has marred his skills, and he is continuously failing. The same happened with Virat Kohli when he was the captain of the Indian team. He regained his form after stepping away from captaincy. Here, I will not refrain myself from mentioning Sarfaraz Ahmed who has been instrumental in many difficult wins. Unfortunately, he was systemically and unceremoniously removed not only from captaincy but from the team for unknown reasons. It is high time to revisit the selection strategy, which should be purely on merit.

Malik ul Quddoos

Karachi