The Pakistani side has received harsh criticism from both analysts and fans despite making the Asia Cup 2022 finals and giving the English team a good fight in a recent home T20I series, which they lost 3-4.
Even though its star batsmen, captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, have continuously occupied the top ranks in the ICC T20I rankings, both have come under fire for their batting strike rates and have frequently been held responsible for the Pakistan team’s failures.
However, in an effort to support Rizwan, Babar, and the Pakistani squad, PCB president Ramiz Raja defended his captain and wicketkeeper-batsman, even using the Indian team and Virat Kohli as examples.
Rajat Patidar says, “I strive to add Virat Kohli’s intensity to my own game.”
Ramiz Raja’s defence
Ramiz defended the Indian team’s performance at the Asia Cup and Virat Kohli, claiming that after the latter achieved his first T20I century against Afghanistan, Indian media and fans had forgotten about the team’s whole run in the tournament, despite being the overwhelming favourites to win.
He claimed that even if Babar had hit a century, Pakistani fans would not have reacted the same way and would have ridiculed him for his low strike rate.
“In the past, we would fall short right away. Yes, we made it to the championship game, but we didn’t play well. But having a bad day is acceptable. However, there were additional teams competing in the Asia Cup. India should have received harsh criticism for failing to advance to the championship, in my opinion. However, it is not what their supporters and the media do.
They completely forgot about their Asia Cup when Virat Kohli made a century against Afghanistan, I’ll tell you that much. Will we ever carry that out? Babar Azam scored a lot of runs, however, David Warner had a strike rate of 147.3 compared to 135 for Azam.”
So, he said, “This is worthless.”
Pakistan lost the seven-match T20I series against England after losing the Asia Cup, despite having a 3-2 series lead at one point.
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