Pakistan will to travel to New Zealand to play a T20I Tri-series featuring Bangladesh as well.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Ramiz Raja, shared his thoughts on the Men in Green’s 3-4 defeat in the recently concluded T20I series against England at home after fans and former cricketers criticized the team selection and questioned the potential and intent of the players.
Many have been questioning Pakistan batter’s cautious approach, as the team has failed to chase targets of 200 runs or more on multiple occasions, which has only raised concerns over the team’s fate in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
However, Raja has stressed that it is not easy to change their style very suddenly and he doesn’t find anything wrong in their approach and urged the Pakistani supporters to stand with the national team.
In a video shared by PCB on Twitter, Ramiz Raja said: “It is very easy to say press a button and start playing aggressively like Australia and that you are still playing old-school cricket in modern-day cricket. The current team has a way to play and in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with it because their success rate is almost 80 percent in 12 months. This team doesn't get influenced, there is clarity of roles, and they know how to win a match.”
Speaking on Pakistan vs England T20I series, the PCB chief said: “It was an amazing series. Other than one or two matches, I haven’t seen so many matches finishing in the last over or in the last minute. With that, you understand that the team has proper temperament. They fight till the end and are united. We even got the opportunity to test our bench strength.”
Raja further explained, “The observation of the supporters is correct. But, I want to tell the fans, who are the biggest stakeholders of our game that with an honest intention, we are trying to reboot (Pakistan) Cricket. Our team fought on every occasion on the field and never gave up.
Two years ago, the raw talent you saw has got redefined and now the competition has gone up. Our team fought on every occasion on the field and never gave up. Two years ago, the raw talent you saw has redefined and now the competition has gone up. Where do you see in ICC awards winners, Pakistan players get the top 4 spots.”
He signed off by saying, “That’s why we are hosting junior leagues and organizing a fest with the 100 best players. The purpose of doing so is to bring experienced horses (players) into the race in the next 3-4 years, who will be adventurous, play modern cricket.”