Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has slammed the Pakistan team for their poor performance, dubbing them the ‘most fielding ordinary team in the World Cup’. This comes after the Men in Green suffered a humiliating loss to Afghanistan in Chennai on October 23.
Babar Azam's men succumbed to a third consecutive defeat in the World Cup after Afghanistan chased the target of 283 with eight wickets to spare. The loss has also put Pakistan's campaign in jeopardy as the Men in Green now have to win all their remaining four games to stay alive in the tournament.
Pakistan was careless against Afghanistan, giving up easy boundaries and never allowing the squad to put pressure on the Afghan hitters. According to Gautam Gambhir, Pakistan has the worst fielding record in the World Cup.
"We have spoken about this in the Asia Cup as well - Pakistan's fielding. You can have a bad day in bowling or batting, but not in fielding. This has been going on since the Asia Cup and the department has still not improved. I believe Pakistan is the most ordinary fielding team in this World Cup," Gautam said on Star Sports.
Gambhir also feels that Pakistan lacks quality in the spin department. Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, and Iftikhar Ahmed failed to make any impact with the ball on the Chepauk pitch which was supposed to assist the spinners.
"They are struggling in spin bowling. On this wicket, where there was no dew and there was help for the spinners, none of the three spinners could pick up a single wicket. That is the second concern," he said.
Gambhir also said that Pakistan's top order lacks an X-factor, adding that all the top five batsmen bat in the same way.
"The third concern is Pakistan's batting. Pakistan's top five batters are similar types of batters. They don't have a batter apart from Iftikhar Ahmed who can take the game head-on," Gambhir said.
The 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup-winning cricketer further said that Pakistan needs to play the modern version of ODI cricket as it has changed in the last 10 years or so.
"Cricket has moved on. Cricket is not the same as it was in the 1990s or 2011, where you score 270 or 280 runs and think that your bowling will defend that. Two new balls, flat wickets, five fielders within the circle, you will have to play proactive and attacking cricket," he concluded.
Pakistan will next clash with South Africa, also in Chennai on October 27.
