T20 loss to SL an eye-opener, admits Misbah

LAHORE: Pakistan’s head coach Misbah-ul-Haq on Wednesday night said that the 3-0 whitewash to Sri Lanka in the T20I series was an eye-opener for the team as well as their critics.

Misbah said that there is something seriously wrong with the country’s cricket system. He said his side has a lot of things to work on following its 3-0 whitewash in the T20I series by Sri Lanka on their home turf.

“We have to learn from Sri Lanka’s performance,” Misbah said following the third T20I loss here. “We have to search for answers to many questions after this defeat.” The former Pakistan batsman said that the Sri Lankan leg-spinners proved to be the decisive factor in the series, adding “Pakistan is not being backed up by Shadab Khan at the moment.”

Pakistani captain Sarfaraz Ahmed said the visitors played better cricket than them. He added that the side got to know about its weakness and they will work on improving them.The skipper said that the team’s plan was to have Haris Sohail bat till the end in the third T20I but the side came under pressure after both the left-handed batsman and Babar Azam were dismissed.

“We did not play good cricket throughout the series. The result is an eye-opener for everyone. This also tells us what we need to work on for future series,” said captain Sarfraz Ahmed, who sat alongside Misbah in a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore and invited questions from media personnel.

Sarfraz, who came in to bat at number four and scored 17 off 16 balls before throwing away his wicket, appeared to pin the responsibility of the failed run chase on his partner Haris Sohail.

“The pitch was such that we were not able to hit right away. The plan was for me and Haris to bat together but then he got out and the next batters needed time to settle,” he said.Sarfaraz, who also dropped a catch, defended his own conduct, saying that his mistake did not hurt the team. “I admit that I dropped a catch but that batsman was out in the next over so it did not really hurt the team.”