Pakistan’s dream of qualifying to the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8s crushed on Friday (June 14) after the USA versus Ireland match was washed out in Lauderhill, Florida.
Rain and wet outfield forced the abandonment even without toss happening as USA progressed to the Super 8 stage from Group A alongside India.
Following the first-round elimination, Babar Azam and his troops are facing backlash from the fans and former cricketers alike.
Former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja also commented on Pakistan’s flop show while speaking on his YouTube channel.
"Aapne choon-choon ka murabba bana diya hai iss team ko (you have turned this team into a mixture of varied things)," said Ramiz, slamming both players as well as the country's cricket board.
"You brought back old, retired players so that somehow you save your face in the T20 World Cup...(you) let some of the good talent slip away just because this is a World Cup and it requires experience, we have to bring back retired players, even if they have bitched about the captain," he added.
"Aise thodi team chalti hai. Yeh pehle bhi humne kar ke dekh liya tha (the team doesn't work that way; we have tried this before). I think it was the 2003 World Cup. We gathered all the super stars in that team thinking that experience will come handy. But those were ageing stars, and Pakistan couldn't be saved. We got beaten badly there as well," he continued.
The PCB reinstated Babar Azam as white-ball captain after he relinquished the post following the dismal ODI World Cup campaign in India last year.
Ramiz asked the PCB administrators to not run the show from the sidelines and allow the team’s leadership to flourish.
"You have to see who to play, what is the captain's role. Unless you allow the leadership to flourish in this environment, let them take decision, introduce discipline and merit, and not try to run it (the team) from the sidelines, unless you have the cricket IQ and thinking and take good decisions morally and cricket-wise, until that time it's almost impossible for this team to get back up on its legs," Ramiz remarked.
"You will now find sacrifical lambs to save your place. That's not how you run cricket."
Pakistan will conclude their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with the dead-rubber Group A match against Ireland in Florida on Sunday (June 16).
