Former Pakistan batter and coach Mohammad Yousuf has stated that Pakistan players became arrogant and disrespectful towards coaches and mentors after defeating India in the 2021 T20 World Cup. He cited this as the reason behind Pakistan cricket’s downfall since then.
Pakistan had defeated India by 10 wickets in Dubai in the T20 World Cup 2021 group match, which was their first win over India in ICC World Cup events. It remains their only win in ICC World Cup events, as India has come out on top in the next three T20 World Cups in 2022, 2024, and 2026 and the ODI World Cup in 2023.
Pakistan's dramatic decline in performance could be linked to a variety of issues, including the politicization of the PCB and the treatment of coaches. However, the most destructive factor, as Mohammad Yousuf pointed out, is the arrogance that seeped into this unit following their victory over India in Dubai in 2021.
“Fortunately, or unfortunately, after the match that we won by 10 wickets against India, we began to think there’s no one better than us. Everyone became disrespectful. When the head coach was speaking, someone would either look at their phone or stare elsewhere. It all began after that match. This is never a good thing for any player. You need to be grounded, which we saw with Inzamam Bhai, Saeed Bhai… they were big players. Still, they always listened to what the coaches had to say,” Yousuf, the Pakistan captain, said on the ‘How Does it Work’ podcast.
Yousuf's claim was spot on, as Shadab Khan made remarks less than 24 hours ago that looked to support Yousuf's feelings. After several previous Pakistan greats criticized the current squad under Salman Agha, doubting their brand of cricket and their failure to defeat India, Shadab reacted with a comment that mirrored the same characteristics Yousuf had accused the team of having.
Furthermore, Yousuf talked about his brief term as Pakistan's batting coach and stated that he had resigned from the job, as he wanted to drop Babar Azam from the team. He talked about Babar Azam’s poor form in the last 3-4 years.
Babar was once a budding talent in world cricket, but his runs have dried up significantly. The former Pakistan captain scored a century against Sri Lanka in an ODI in November, but only after 807 days. Since then, he has once again been unable to score runs.
Yousuf claimed that he wanted to drop Babar from the Pakistan team based on his performance, but after encountering criticism from the decision-makers, he resigned three months later.
“Babar Azam’s technique has deteriorated. No player can remain out of form for three years. I had been saying this for a long time, but people kept asking, ‘How can anyone drop Babar?’ So I felt it was better to resign. What has happened to him today is because of the same people who doubted me,” added the 51-year-old.
