ISLAMABAD - Former Test captain Zaheer Abbas, who is also the batting consultant of national team, termed loss against West Indies in the crunch World T20 match due to players’ inefficiency to handle the pressure.
Zaheer said team had done well against all the opponents with the exception of first match against India and last and the most important against defending champions West Indies. He said team played very well in the first 17 overs where they managed to contain West Indian batsmen but last three overs changed the entire complexion of the match but even then, it was by no means a target out of reach, keeping in mind strong batting line-up. “The players should have entered with two game plans. First 10 overs, try to score runs without losing too many wickets and hit out in the remaining 10 overs. But early wickets changed the entire situation of the match as batsmen just kept on gifting their wickets. Four players got stumped which is quite unacceptable and speaks volumes about batsmen completely failed in handling the pressure.”
Zaheer said one or two average performances should not be judged as complete failure of the entire team management. “It is true team lost the match badly but before that almost same players managed to chase 327 against hosts Bangladesh and 246 runs against archrivals India in the Asia Cup. I don't have any magic lamp to change the fortunes of the batsmen in overnight or few days. It will take some time before players would get used too pressure, how to control their emotions and complete change in batting approach. I had chalked out comprehensive plans and whenever I would be invited by the PCB, I would discuss all the plans in detail and I am sure these minor mistakes could be removed easily.”
When this scribe asked Zaheer, which players team missed during the World T20, Zaheer replied: “We badly missed two players. First and the most important of them was Fawad Alam. The youngster had played masterfully in the Asia Cup and he should have been included in the T20 squad keeping in mind his superb displays in the entire event and under pressure during the Asia Cup. Second player the team missed is Anwar Ali. He is a complete all-rounder and he should have been given nod ahead of others. But past is past. Team management would discuss all the shortcomings and hopefully we will come up with positive results in near future.”
He suggested that the board should start long term training camp at NCA or at some hill station without wasting any time. He said such a camp would serve a lot to the purpose. “The players who had performed in the domestic circuit should be called in the camp and they should be provided opportunities to play against senior players. It would help them building their confidence and also provide a pool of players to the PCB. Pakistan national team had long time off before the competitive action begins with series against Sri Lanka in July and two-month time should be utilised in best possible manner,” Zaheer concluded.