Pakistan’s head coach and chief selector, Misbah ul Haq:
Pakistan cricket team’s new head coach and chief selector, Misbah-ul-Haq has been welcomed with a 3-0 whitewash in T20I series by the hands of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka team had come to Pakistan without their 10 top players. The fact that the world’s top-ranked T20I team could not win a single T20I game against a second-string Sri Lanka team has raised many questions for Misbah and the company.
Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfaraz Ahmed after the 3rd T20I:
Misbah, and Pakistan cricket team’s captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed answered several questions regarding how a team that has been on the no. 1 spot in the T20I rankings for almost 2 years now, got whitewashed in 3-match T20I series right after Pakistan’s former coach Mickey Arthur left.
Pakistan’s head coach and chief selector, Misbah-ul-Haq said in his press conference that the way Sri Lanka has beaten them in every department of the game has been an example for them. Misbah said that Sri Lanka won the games one-sidedly, leaving Pakistan in tatters and with lots of questions to answer. Misbah accepted that the team played very poor cricket, it is his responsibility and he is still thinking what happened because these are the same players that made Pakistan the no. 1 T20I team in the world.
When asked if the sudden drop in the team’s performance was due to a change in strategy in the dressing room since the previous coach left, Misbah explained that he had done nothing in the past 10 days that could have affected the team this way. Misbah further added that people can put the responsibility on him if they want, but what difference could he have made in such a short time with his coaching.
Misbah-ul-Haq revealed that the strategy was to take advantage of the Powerplay and later go all out in the last five overs of the match. Misbah added that these are the same players that took Pakistan to the top of the T20I rankings but in this series, they could not execute things and perform well in all departments of the game.
When asked again why the no. 1 side in the T20I ranking, lost to Sri Lanka without their top players, Misbah replied sarcastically that maybe he made the right-hand batsmen switch to left-handed batting or maybe made the right-handers bowl with their left arm or vice-versa. Misbah-ul-Haq added that nothing has changed in terms of strategy but he is thinking what went wrong with the team.
Sarfaraz Ahmed about his team’s performance:
Pakistan cricket team’s captain Sarfaraz Ahmed clarified that everything is as it was in terms of planning and strategy but the difference was in their performance on the ground. Sarfaraz Ahmed added that they were not able to grab the opportunities at the right time, take hold of the key moments, capitalize in the middle overs of the game, and dropped catches which all played a part in the results.
Pakistan’s captain explained that it is the responsibility of the captain and players to deliver at the ground but they failed to do that. Sarfaraz further added that there are good days and bad days for everyone but we have to learn quickly from that. Sarfaraz also said that they have to stand together and get their momentum back as soon as possible.
Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan consisted of three ODI matches in Karachi and three T20I matches in Lahore. Pakistan won the three-match ODI series by 3-0 against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by 3-0 in the three-match T20I series.
