"Pehle se lekar paanchwi tak sab openers hi khel rahe hai"- Inzamam-ul-Haq blasts Pakistan's poor planning for the T20 World Cup
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq questioned the selection of the Men in Green squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. Babar Azam and his men bowed out of the group phase after finishing third behind the USA and India in Group A.
Inzamam shed light on how the top five batters in the Pakistan line-up were all openers and was disappointed to see no specialist middle-order batter picked in that particular role.
In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Inzamam-ul-Haq had to say:
"Jis tarah ki selection hui hai, aisi selection nahi karni hai. Pehle se lekar paanchwi tak sab openers hi khel rahe hai. Koi middle-order hi nahi hai Pakistan me. Badi sharamdagi hoti hai ki poore Pakistan me koi middle order batsmen hi nahi hai, jisko hum select kar sake. (This is certainly not he way a team should be selected. From No. 1 to No. 5 all are openers. It is shameful that we cannot find middle order batters in Pakistan)."
Inzamam also talked about players who did not bowl much despite being picked as a bowler, without naming them. He urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to strictly make the non-performers play domestic cricket and prove their mettle to get selected back into the team.
Inzamam-ul-Haq feels Pakistan's issues have been long-term
Inzamam-ul-Haq claimed that the T20 World Cup debacle was not something that happened all of a sudden. He felt that Pakistan hadn't been playing together as a unit for a long time. Apart from performances from big names like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Afridi, Inzamam didn't find any other positive from the Men in Green in the past few months.
On this, he stated:
"This struggle is not limited to the T20 World Cup. They struggled in a similar manner in the Asia Cup as well. Asia Cup is done. ODI World Cup is done. Even in the 2-3 series after that Pakistan was never on top, never united. Individual performances was all you could see, sometimes from Babar, from Rizwan and from Shaheen. You didn't see them perform as a unit."
Only time will tell whether the disappointment of the T20 World Cup will bring some big changes in Pakistan's leadership group and playing contingent. Not to forget, Babar Azam was reinstated as Pakistan's white-ball captain in March earlier this year.