"New players have stopped surfacing into their side" - Inzamam slams Bangladesh after whitewash against Pakistan
Pakistani veteran Inzamam-ul-Haq has come down hard on Bangladesh cricket for not improving competition among their team. The 51-year-old feels that the side still relies on regular faces from past years, with new individuals having stopped surfacing into the team.
His statement came in the wake of Pakistan's 3-0 clean sweep over Bangladesh on Monday. Babar Azam-led side clinched the series win following a victory in a nail-biting third T20I in Dhaka. Mohammad Nawaz's boundary on the last ball of the game ensured Pakistan's whitewash over Bangladesh.
Following the tightly-contested encounter, Inzamam-ul-Haq posted a video on his official YouTube channel - 'Inzaman ul Haq - The Match Winner'.
You can watch the video below:
The former Pakistani skipper slammed Bangladesh for not ameliorating its playing conditions and pitches as a host nation. Inzamam also censured that the same set of 3-4 players have been contributing for the side for the past eight years or so for them. While citing that Bangladesh needs to improve their cricket, Inzamam-ul-Haq said:
"If I talk about Bangladesh's perspective, I feel that they still have those 3-4 set of players who have been playing and contributing to the team since past 6-7 years. They (Bangladesh) haven't improved their conditions, pitches and not even the competition in the side. I feel that the new players have stopped surfacing into their side."
"They have the same faces contributing to them, and a few of them weren't even playing in this series (referring to the absence of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim). I think Bangladesh should ponder over this situation and look to improve their cricket," Inzamam added.
Bangladesh lost by 5 wickets.
#BANvPAK https://t.co/zbV0LGU4iI
''Babar's triumphs show that he is continuously improving as a skipper" - Inzamam-ul-Haq on Pakistan skipper
After winning all the three T20Is against Bangladesh, Babar Azam has added another accomplishment to his name. He won his 17th T20I this year. The 27-year-old has equalled Sarfaraz Ahmed's record of winning the most T20Is as a skipper in a calendar year.
Inzamam-ul-Haq, in his video, commended Azam's leadership skills and expressed that he is improving continuously as a skipper. He said:
"Today Babar Azam equalled Sarfaraz Ahmed's record of winning 17 T20I matches in one calendar year as a captain. We aren't rating Babar Azam that highly for his captaincy, though he was sending good signs during the World Cup. And his triumphs is showing that he is continuously improving as a skipper. If he wins one more T20I, he'll be the best Pakistani T20i skipper to win most matches in a year."
However, weighing up the subject, the Pakistani legend also mentioned that Babar Azam needs to lift major silverware. He opined that this is important in order to get world's recognition as a skipper. Inzamam drew parallels between Azam and Sarfaraz Ahmed, who won the Champions Trophy with Pakistan in 2017.
"Sarfaraz got a kick in his captaincy following the Champions Trophy victory. When a captain wins a major ICC event, he gains that confidence and gets the recognition. Babar should also need to win a big event in order to get recognized as a captain in the world. He fell short during the World Cup, when the whole world was saying that Pakistan was the strongest contenders."
Babar Azam came close to winning an ICC title for Pakistan during the recently-concluded T20 World Cup 2021. However, despite playing enthralling cricket, the Men in Green fell short against the Aussie challenge in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Pakistan is scheduled to contest in a two-match Test series against Bangladesh, starting on November 26. The first will be played in Chattogram from November 26-30.