Former Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad tore into Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mike Hesson following the side’s three-match ODI series loss against Bangladesh. The current Pakistan captain and head coach were shown no mercy following the Green Shirts’ 11-run loss against the hosts in the third and final ODI in Dhaka. Shehzad urged the current management to stop giving excuses and do something that benefits cricket in the country.
In the series against Bangladesh, Pakistan was without the services of Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman. No one really knows whether they were dropped or rested. Hesson and Shaheen said that the duo were rested while chief selector Aaqib Javed revealed that the two sustained injuries during the T20 World Cup.
Shehzad didn’t mince his words as he put the entire team under the scanner, saying the result against Bangladesh is hard to take, especially after how Pakistan crashed out of the T20 World Cup in the Super 8s, failing to make the semi-finals for the fourth ICC event in a row.
He also expressed displeasure with Shaheen’s decision of opting to bowl in the series decider, saying it would have been ideal had the team bowled under lights after putting runs on the board.
“After the pathetic T20 World Cup campaign, you did not make any changes. You brought youngsters out of nowhere. Now you have lost the series, you are giving excuses of having youngsters in the playing XI. Well done. When you don’t accept your mistakes, you will never move ahead in life,” Shehzad said on his YouTube channel.
“You are going to become an associate team. What combinations are you playing? I don’t understand. When you won the toss, why did you decide to bowl? When your senior players are acting like this, what do you expect of the youngsters?” he added.
‘Have shame’
Over the weekend, the Pakistan selector Aaqib Javed downplayed the T20 World Cup debacle, saying the team crashed out based on the net run rate. However, Shehzad didn’t take this assessment very well, saying Pakistan played poorly and that’s the brutal truth.
During the press conference on Saturday, Javed had highlighted how Pakistan beat England in a Test series and Australia in an away ODI series. However, Shehzad said that the international teams no longer field their full-strength teams against Pakistan.
“You have ruined Pakistan cricket. If you wanted to do something, you would have done so by now. You never win against big teams, and then you come out and say, ‘We won against Australia and South Africa.’ Don’t forget, they never played their full-strength teams. You are becoming an associate team,” said Shehzad.
“People are now treating you like Zimbabwe. And then you say we crashed out of the World Cup due to the run-rate. Have some shame,” he added.
