Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja is not happy with the way Pakistan cricket is working. Ramiz feels the team management's unwillingness to give chance to new players is costing them and he also gave the example of Indian cricketers.
Ramiz, speaking on a YouTube channel called 'The Indian News', said he wanted Pakistan to go on the Zimbabwe tour with some new faces which would have given the youngsters some experience, irrespective of the outcome of the series.
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"Even if you lose with new players in the side, there is at least a silver lining that you figure out players are capable and those who aren't. You move on and test another player. With old players, who already who know what their value addition (to the team) is," he said.
The renowned commentator further stated that the team shouldn't continue with senior cricketers in the shortest format of the game. "As far my understanding goes, I haven't seen a 40-45-year-old player in T20s on the international platform. It makes sense because your reflexes slow down and even if you were a world-class player, your performance drops to 50 percent," he explained.
Ramiz feels Pakistan doesn't have an MS Dhoni or a Sachin Tendulkar who can deliver even at an older age and the team should welcome the youngsters for a better future.
"We don't have players of that caliber. For example, MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, despite being at their 50%, were still very useful. This just reinforces the fear we have about losing matches. For the sake of winning, we are destroying the system," he opined.
Pakistan won the T20I series by 2-1 against Zimbabwe but Ramiz believes the team missed out on an opportunity to experiment on the tour.
"Move on with new players. It will at least give you a sense of direction. Against Zimbabwe, if you had gone with new players and lost, nobody would have said anything because it could have been an experimental tour. There are very few occasions where you can experiment against an international team. Like I have said earlier, they take one step forward and two steps backward," he said.
Ramiz added that the Pakistan cricket team always goes back to their senior players when the pressure increases, instead of grooming the youngsters by putting them into such situations, which leaves them way behind.
"When the pressure increases, call back the old players. When the pressure increases, call back the fixers. when the pressure increases, you play an extra wicketkeeper as a middle-order batsman. That's not how teams are built. It just goes to show the state of our system wherein the new players are a long way behind," he added.
