Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan looked back on his team’s disappointing performance at the ICC T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA. He admitted that they deserve criticism for not moving forward in the tournament and he also acknowledged the right of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairperson Mohsin Naqvi to decide who will be part of the future squad.
Pakistan ended their World Cup campaign with a three-wicket win over Ireland in Florida during the Group Stage. India and USA had already qualified for the Super 8 from Group A, so this contest was a dead rubber.
Placed in group A, Pakistan suffered back-to-back defeats against co-hosts United States of America then from their fierce rivals India. The squad bounced back with victories over Canada and Ireland; nevertheless, these wins were not enough to see them into the Super 8.
For this reason, Pakistan placed third in their group during pool play and did not move ahead due to net run-rate criteria.
“The criticism that is coming our way is justified because we didn’t deliver as per expectations. If there are players who can’t take criticism, they won’t go far,” Rizwan said. “We are disappointed with our performance at T20 World Cup. And I have a lot many reasons behind us losing those games. When a team is losing one cannot say that bowling and batting are good.”
Rizwan also likened this team to an ill person who needs an operation and has gone ahead to say that it’s up to PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi on what happens next.
“Operations are normal things like when a person is sick it’s when you need operations done on him/her,” he added. “Chairman of PCB is very hard working guy. Thus Chairman reserves his rights regarding whom would stay within the squad and whom shall be dropped.”
Mohammad Rizwan compared cricket team with someone sick needing surgery whose future depends upon PCB chief.
Rizwan’s performance in the tournament fell short of expectations, as he scored only 110 runs in four innings at an average of 36.66 and a strike rate of 90.90.
He registered one half-century not out against Canada (53*). His skipper and teammate Babar Azam did not have a good time with the bat either as he managed to score just 122 runs with an average of 40.66 in four matches, including his highest individual innings score of 44 and a strike rate of 101.66.
