There's a lot of anger and dismay among the
Pakistan
cricket fraternity for not just the team's early exit from the
T20 World Cup
but for also how captain
Babar Azam
and his boys went about their business and continued to disappoint.
The upset opening defeat against tournament debutants USA triggered Pakistan's fall, as they went on to let a win against India slip out of their hands before beating Canada to stay alive.
But all their hopes got 'washed out' in wet Florida when the USA vs Ireland match was abandoned, which meant the US team progressed to the 'Super 8s' along with India, while Pakistan bowed out of the race.
T20 WORLD CUP: Points Table | Schedule
The anguish is evident, especially among the former Pakistan players who haven't held themselves back in lambasting the team in their unique manner.
"Aapne choon-choon ka murabba bana diya hai iss team ko (you have turned this team into a mixture of varied things)," said former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja, criticizing both players as well as the country's cricket board.
"You brought back old, retired players so that somehow you save your face in the T20 World Cup...(you) let some of the good talent slip away just because this is a World Cup and it requires experience, we have to bring back retired players, even if they have bitched about the captain," said a sarcastic Ramiz, who has also briefly served as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
"Aise thodi team chalti hai. Yeh pehle bhi humne kar ke dekh liya tha (the team doesn't work that way; we have tried this before)," Ramiz continued. "I think it was the 2003 World Cup. We gathered all the super stars in that team thinking that experience will come handy. But those were ageing stars, and Pakistan couldn't be saved. We got beaten badly there as well."
Pakistan reinstated Babar Azam as their white-ball captain after he had stepped down from the post following a poor show at the ODI World Cup in India last year.
Ramiz reckoned the team's leadership should be allowed "to flourish".
"You have to see who to play, what is the captain's role. Unless you allow the leadership to flourish in this environment, let them take decision, introduce discipline and merit, and not try to run it (the team) from the sidelines, unless you have the cricket IQ and thinking and take good decisions morally and cricket-wise, until that time it's almost impossible for this team to get back up on its legs," Ramiz said.
"You will now find sacrifical lambs to save your place. That's not how you run cricket."
Pakistan will conclude their T20 World Cup campaign with their inconsequential last match in Group A against Ireland on Sunday.
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