Interim head coach and de facto chief selector Aqib Javed on Wednesday said that hosts Pakistan were kicked out of the Champions Trophy tournament “due to a lack of experience among the players.”
A wave of criticism has engulfed the Pakistan cricket team following their six-wicket defeat to India in Dubai, a result that was decisive in Pakistan’s ouster from the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy, an event which they are hosting. Before that, during the opening match against New Zealand in Karachi, the Green Shirts faced a 60-run defeat.
India and New Zealand advanced from the four-team group as both sides won their respective matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference in Rawalpindi before Pakistan’s final match in the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh on Thursday, Javed said, “We lost against them (India) but when there is a lack of experience and the pressure gets to you, it’s difficult for the new guys to tackle that.”
His remarks came when he was asked about the main difference between the Indian and Pakistani teams in ICC events in particular and if the second line of players were not able to complement the seniors.
Continuing his reply he said that a match between India and Pakistan was “more than cricket,” adding that winning such a match required a lot of experience.
“This Indian team was the most experienced, they have almost 1,500 games altogether and Pakistan is on the bottom, with less than 400 games,” he added.
“Babar Azam is the only one that has played more than 100 games, followed by Mohammed Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi, while the rest have played less than 30 games.”
He added that Tayyab Tahir had only played eight matches and Khushdil Shah had only played 15 matches.
Pakistan, who won the previous edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017, lost to New Zealand and then India in the first International Cricket Council (ICC) event they are hosting since the 1996 ODI World Cup.
India refused to tour Pakistan due to political reasons and instead are playing all their matches in Dubai, which will host the final if the Indian team go the distance.
More to follow
