Veteran batter Ahmed Shahzad has lashed out at Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan for his “mind-boggling” blunder to bat first in the tri-nation series final against New Zealand. On Friday, New Zealand beat Pakistan by 5 wickets to win the tri-nation series final at the National Stadium in Karachi. After opting to bat first, Pakistan were bowled out for 242 on a two-paced track, and New Zealand achieved the target in just 45.2 overs. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Shahzad questioned Rizwan’s decision to bat, especially after Pakistan chased down 353 a couple of days prior against South Africa at the very same ground.

“It was a mind-boggling decision (to bat first) because we had seen in the previous match that the pitch becomes better to bat on in the night, the ball doesn’t grip on the surface for the spinners. Still, the Pakistan team decided to bat first,” Shahzad said on his YouTube channel.

Shahzad feels Pakistan are only capable of beating second or third-string oppositions, adding that the Rizwan-led side has been brutally exposed by New Zealand ahead of the Champions Trophy.

“Pakistan’s bubble has burst ahead of the Champions Trophy. You get a chance to win only when the opposition performs below par or doesn’t have their main players playing,” he added.

Shahzad also questioned the logic behind the decision to drop pacer Mohammad Hasnain at the expense of all-rounder Faheem Ashraf, especially considering that the latter only bowled two overs in the match.

“In his every decision, the Pakistan captain wants to play safe with batting, be it by being a spinner short in the Champions Trophy squad or this match, where they played (bowling all-rounder) Faheem Ashraf to have a longer batting line-up at the expense of (fast bowler) Mohammad Hasnain and still used him (Ashraf) for just two overs,” Shahzad pointed out.

After the match, Rizwan had explained the logic behind his decision to bat first.

“We wanted to bat first because we thought in the second half, the pitch would be tough. But their bowlers put a squeeze on us. We were looking to target 280 but they got it back. We were 15 runs short. They were bowling very well. Me and Agha were trying to build the stand. We tried doing that, but they were not giving us the balls. We kept the target to 280, not 300. My wicket was crucial. [Fielding] We have to bring the improvement. This is one department we are lacking. [Abrar] He has really improved. The others have to improve as well. [CT’25] We wanted to prepare for the 19th as well. So that is why we wanted to bat first as well,” Rizwan said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Members of Pakistan cricket team’s selection committee, from left to right, Abdul Razak, Mohammad Yousaf and Wahab Riaz give a press conference to announce squad for upcoming T20 cricket matches against Ireland and England, in Lahore, Pakistan on May 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistani selectors on May 2 dropped leg-spinner Usama Mir for the T20 series in Ireland and England while recalling fast bowler Haris Rauf.

Also Read: ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2024: full schedule, dates and venues

Selectors Muhammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Wahab Riaz told a media conference that Pakistan’s World Cup squad would be picked based on the performances of the matches against Ireland and England.

Also read: India’s T20 World Cup squad

The three-match series in Ireland begins May 10 before Pakistan move to England for four games from May 22.

“They are a few fitness issues with Muhammad Rizwan, Haris Rauf, Azam Khan and Irfan Khan Niazi but there has been a significant improvement in their fitness and we are confident they will play in the coming matches,” Wahab said.

Wahab also justified recalling pacer Hasan Ali for the coming tour and said that he was already under consideration and basically he is a back up for Haris.

“If Haris is fit and performs well in coming matches he is our first choice. He has started bowling but if he doesn’t come through we have Hasan Ali.” Haris got unfit during the initial stages of Pakistan Super League and has not played since February.

Razzaq said that leg-spinner Usama has been dropped since Pakistan already has Shadab Khan and Abrar Ahmed in the squad.

Yousuf insisted that the recent 2-2 result in the T20 series against a depleted New Zealand outfit was not a bad one.

“It is true that New Zealand were missing some main players but it is also for the first time that we also fully implemented the rotation policy by trying out new players in the series,” he said.

Yousuf also said that they were pushing the players to be more innovative in their playing their shots and admitted that some players came up short on that front.

“Look unless we are not ready to accept failure and move our batters will never be ready to adopt innovative stroke play,” he said.

Wahab also said that they had spoken with the new head coach Gary Kirsten and they all agreed that first and foremost they had to remove the insecurity and fear of failure from the minds of the players.

“Our aim is to give them an environment where they can give their beat and play fearlessly.” Wahab also said that selecting the playing eleven would remain the domain of the captain and the selectors would not interfere in that area.

The selectors also defended Babar Azam’s ability as a captain.

“No one is a born captain but from what we saw in the New Zealand (NZ) series there was improvement in his leadership and we are hopeful he will become better and he has captaincy experience. We want to remain on the same page with him,” Razzaq said.

Squads: Babar Azam (Captain), Muhammad Rizwan, Azam Khan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Irfan Khan Niazi, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Muhammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Abbas Afridi and Agha Ali Salman.