India vs Pakistan: Shoaib Akhtar slams ‘brainless captain’ Sarfaraz Ahmed

Pakistan added one more defeat to their already dismal record in the World Cup against India, taking it to 7-0 in favour of the arch-rivals

Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar has slammed Sarfaraz Ahmed’s ‘brainless captaincy’ after Pakistan’s humiliating 89-run loss to India in the World Cup. “I don’t understand how can a captain be so brainless, couldn’t Sarfaraz think that we don’t chase well. Square of the wicket is dry, the wicket is not wet. Knowing the fact and your strength is not batting its bowling,” Akhtar said on his official YouTube channel.

Pakistan added one more defeat to their already dismal record in the World Cup against India, taking it to 7-0 in favour of the arch-rivals. Skipper Sarafraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to field first allowing India to post an imposing target of 337 on the back of a brilliant 140 by opener Rohit Sharma and half centuries by KL Rahul (57) and Virat Kohli (77).

According to Akhtar, winning the toss was crucial aspect of the game and half the match was won had Sarfaraz decided to bat first. “Now when you had won the toss, you had won half the match there. But what did you do? You tried that we should not win this match. Yet again, brainless captaincy, utterly stupid management.”

Highlighting Pakistan’s in ability to chase, Akhtar referred to their defeat to Indian in 1999 and the previous game against Australia. “We don’t have a history of chasing. Inzamam, Yusuf, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi all big batsman were playing in this ground in 1999 and we had to make 227 we weren’t able to do that. So when you got the chance after winning the toss you should have batted.”

The Rawalpindi Express also criticised the batsmen for not making use of the conditions unlike their Indian counterparts. “There was no thinking, one-dimensional players came to bat, but the toss was very crucial to win it and in that even if Pakistan scored 260 they would have done it because the pressure is on required run rate. But who would tell them?”…

Pakistan teams of 90’s enjoyed upper hand, now India is better: Sarfaraz

The soft-spoken Pakistan captain was literally hounded by his country’s media with a host of uncomfortable questions following the team’s heavy defeat against India here on Sunday.

Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has reconciled to the fact that they “were a better team than India in the 90’s” and now the tables have turned. The soft-spoken Pakistan captain was literally hounded by his country’s media with a host of uncomfortable questions following the team’s heavy defeat against India here on Sunday.

Asked if the Indo-Pak rivalry has fizzled out over the years, Sarafaraz said: “We are not handling pressure well. The team that handles pressure in these games win. The Pakistan teams of the 90’s, used to enjoy upper hand but now India is better than Pakistan. That’s why they win matches.”

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s advice was “bat first even if the pitch is damp” but Sarfaraz  ahmed Khan doggedly defended his decision, saying the reason for defeat was “failure in all three departments”. The Pakistan Prime Minister and an iconic World Cup winning captain, in a series of tweets on the marquee clash, had spoken about the right approach for the high-pressure game.

“The whole team is not performing well in all three departments. If you talk about fielding, even Virat Kohli had said that he would have fielded. We haven’t seen the pitch for two days. There was some moisture and hence I decided on fielding. We won a good toss but didn’t hit the right length,” said Sarfaraz. A defeat against India inevitably gives rise to conspiracy theories and the post match media interaction was no different.

“Why is it that the players’ body language is so negative?” asked one of the scribes. The manner in which Sarfaraz kept his counsel was remarkable. “May be you guys have seen something in the body language but players are trying their best. Their has been fielding lapses. Rohit could have been run-out twice and had we availed those chances, it could have been a different result.”