Pakistan players and the coaching staff are under fire after their nation’s recent embarrassing loss against England in the One-Day International (ODI) series. The biggest reason why fans and experts expressed their anger is that the Babar Azam-led side got whitewashed from England’s second-string team in the three-match series.
From Shoaib Akhtar to Inzamam-ul-Haq, many legends of Pakistan cricket expressed their disappointment and criticised the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis, who are a part of the national team’s coaching staff.
Following the bandwagon, former Pakistan opener Salman Butt has lambasted head coach Misbah for his statement after the series loss. Misbah had said that he tried his best but things didn’t fall in line for them.
Reacting to the comment, Salman opined that instead of making excuses, Misbah should have accepted that Pakistan wasn’t a better team than England, and their strategy was also wrong.
“Misbah said the performance is undefendable, but he tried his best to defend it. If you say it is undefendable, then just say, ‘We weren’t the better team. We have failed in our execution and strategy’. He is just repeating the justifications of why he is backing certain players. This shows that you are also not at par with your position, and you have no idea what you are talking about,” said Salman on his YouTube channel.
The 36-year-old further questioned why Pakistan didn’t play the other leg-spinner, Usman Qadir, in place of all-rounder Shadab Khan, who wasn’t impressive at all in the ODIs.
“Why didn’t you try the other leg-spinner? The amount of matches that he has played, he has performed better than the rest. A person’s (Shadab Khan) main skill is weak, but you use his batting and fielding skills as excuses. You are finding eleven players who are jack of all trades, master of none,” added Salman.
Pakistan and England will now face each other in the three-match T20I series, starting Friday (July 16) at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
