Captain Misbah criticises all departments of Pakistan team
Monday, 23 February 2015 00:00
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Reuters: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq found fault with every department of his team’s performance in their 150-run loss to West Indies on Saturday which leaves his team at the bottom of Pool B in the World Cup.
Misbah has not yet emulated Imran Khan by urging his team to play like “cornered tigers”, the battle cry which has been credited with inspiring Pakistan’s win at the 1992 World Cup.
But something special will be needed if Pakistan are to make any impact on the tournament after a dismal performance on Saturday following their loss to India in the opening game.
As Misbah suggested, Pakistan’s faults were widely distributed.
They dismissed the West Indies openers cheaply after opting to field but failed to take wickets in sufficient quantities thereafter and conceded 115 runs off the final 10 overs.
Three simple catches were spilled and four wickets then fell for one run when Pakistan batted, which ended any hopes of overhauling West Indies’ 310 for six.
Asked at a news conference what had gone wrong for Pakistan, Misbah replied: “Everything, I think, in all three departments. We couldn’t bowl well, a lot of dropped catches.
“At the end of the day as a batsman, a bowler and a fielder you have to perform. As a team, as players we need to pick ourselves up and we need to perform.”
Pakistan’s decision to select opener Nasir Jamshed ahead of spinner Yasir Shah in a move to strengthen the batting proved a spectacular failure.
Jamshed dropped West Indies opener Dwayne Smith, left the field to nurse an injury and was then dismissed for a second ball duck.
Misbah conceded there were problems with getting the balance of his team right.
“Performances like that can dent you, damage you,” he added. “We need to really recover mentally and think about our game. This is how World Cups are. You have to pick yourself up, think about your strategies, think about where you can improve.”
