Karachi: Pakistan cricket team is under fire after it suffered a humiliating series defeat against Sri Lanka in the ODI series.
Pakistan were beaten by seven wickets in the third and final One-day Interna¬tional against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Saturday after being bowled for a mere 102, losing the three-match series 2-1.
The World Cup is just five months away and this kind of defeat will certainly hurt their preparations fear former Pakistan players.
Ramiz Raja, a former skipper and a member of the team that won 1992 World Cup, criticised preparations for next year's tournament and feared if the preparations are in the right direction. He further said that we need to find new talent if we want to succeed.
“It seems our batsmen have forgotten how to stay at the wicket and no one has consistency in his performance,” said Rameez.
Former captain Rashid Latif said the one-day defeat would hurt World Cup preparations.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board relied on old players for the last two years in their preparations for the World Cup and they simply don't trust young players — and that's why our performance graph is going down with every series,” he said.
Rashid said he feared Misbah-ul-Haq, appointed captain until the World Cup, would come under pressure.
“I think Misbah's future is in doubt. He didn't perform in seven innings of the tour and his captaincy was defensive,” Rashid said about the one-day and Test captain.
Misbah managed just 67 in two Tests and as many runs in three one-day matches.
Pakistan next play a Twenty20 International, two Tests and three One-day Internationals against Austr¬alia in the United Arab Emirates in October, before taking on New Zealand in three Tests, five one-dayers and two T20s.
“Maybe Shahid Afridi will replace Misbah as one-day captain,” said Rashid.
Another former captain, Mohammad Yousuf, also criticised Misbah's captaincy.
“If the captaincy remained with Misbah you can't expect improvement in results,” said Yousuf. “I think it is imperative we have Afridi as captain.”
