Islamabad: Pakistan opener Mohammed Rizwan opened up on his side’s disastrous ICC T20 World Cup campaign in West Indies and the USA, saying that the team deserves criticism and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi has the right to decide who stays in the team and who does not.
Pakistan ended their campaign with a three-wicket win over Ireland in Florida in the Group Stage, a dead rubber after arch-rivals India and USA, from Group A, advanced to the Super 8 stage.
Placed in Group A, Pakistan endured back-to-back defeats against the co-hosts USA and then to their bitter rival, India. They bounced back with two wins on the trot against Canada and Ireland, but it was not enough to turn their woeful campaign around and secure a spot in the Super 8 as they ended in the third place in their group during the league stage, missing out on net-run-rate.
Speaking about the loss in a press conference at Peshawar on Tuesday, Rizwan said, “The criticism the team is facing is justified and we deserve this since we did not perform in accordance with expectations. Players who cannot face criticism would not be able to succeed. We are disappointed with our performance in the T20 World Cup. There are multiple reasons behind our losses. When a team loses, one cannot say that bowling and batting is doing well.”
He also compared the team to an ill person in need of an operation and said that the PCB chief has the right to decide on the team’s future, saying, “Operations are a normal thing. When a person is ill, the operation is necessary. PCB Chairman is a hard-working person. The decision about who will remain in the team and who will not is the chairman’s right,” he added.
Rizwan had an underwhelming tournament, scoring just 110 runs in four innings at an average of 36.66 and a strike rate of 90.90, with one fifty, a knock of 53* against Canada.
His opening partner and captain Babar Azam also failed to click with the bat, scoring just 122 runs in four games at an average of 40.66, with the best score of 44 and strike rate of 101.66.
