The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) held a review meeting to ponder on the Pakistan team’s poor performance in the Asia Cup 2023 on Wednesday, September 20. Despite a good showing against Nepal, Pakistan failed to conquer India and Sri Lanka in Super 4s and couldn’t reach the final.
During the tournament, Pakistan suffered their biggest loss in ODIs by a margin of runs against India when they were bowled out for 128 in a chase of 356 runs and lost by 228 runs in Colombo in a Super 4s match.
The review meeting was attended by PCB chief Zaka Ashraf, coach Mickey Arthur, skipper Babar Azam, vice-captain Shadab Khan, and former skippers Mohammad Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq.
One of the focal points in the meeting was the workload management of the players. The major reason found during the discussion on workload was fatigue due to playing in foreign T20 leagues. Pakistani players are involved in almost every T20 league being played in the world, barring the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“The philosophy behind this review was to create an atmosphere of open discussion and develop consensus. The idea is to have everyone on board and debate about performances, identifying the problems and their solutions. We have to debate strengths and weaknesses so that we are clear about what and where we need to invest for the betterment of our team,” Zaka Ashraf was quoted by the PCB website.
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“Discussion revealed that the previous management had allowed a lot of players to play league cricket, which caused them to be fatigued ahead of their national duty. But going forward, we have agreed to form a proactive approach to tackling players' workload and give national duty a priority,” he added.
The PCB chief sounded confident, saying that Pakistan has a good enough team to perform well in the upcoming World Cup to be played on Indian soil.
“I am glad we had a good positive review session and are on the same page. We are confident that the experience gained in the Asia Cup was a learning curve and will help prepare for the ICC Men's World Cup.
Our team is filled with talent, and we believe they can compete and win at the highest level. We have world-class batters and bowlers and are committed to providing them with the necessary support and resources to ensure they are well-equipped ahead of the mega event,” Ashraf concluded.
Inzamam Ul Haq couldn’t attend the meeting but met Ashraf on Thursday to discuss the World Cup squad. After the completion of the review, Inzamam has finalized the Pakistan squad for the ICC World Cup, which will be announced on Friday morning in a press conference.
