Pakistani star cricketer Mohammad Rizwan lamented Babar Azam and Co's early elimination from the recently concluded 2024 T20 World Cup in the Americas
Pakistani star cricketer Mohammad Rizwan lamented Babar Azam and Co’s early elimination from the recently concluded 2024 T20 World Cup in the Americas. The Men in Green lost to the tournament’s hosts, the USA, in their opening game, and their arch rivals, India, which puts them on the brink of elimination from the T20 World Cup in the group stage round. However, the USA vs. Ireland washout makes them out of the marquee event despite their magnificent win over Canada and Ireland in the last two games of the Group Stage.
Meanwhile, Babar Azam and Co. gave a lacklustre showing in the showpiece event. They failed to maintain composure and fell to the USA in the Super Over in their first match. Later, when India was defending 120 runs, they fell six runs short.
Following the Green Army’s early exit, the players received harsh criticism, and some former Pakistan cricketers asked that the team be sent home after enjoying themselves abroad. In addition to this, the players also heard rumours of groupism, which adversely impacted the atmosphere in the dressing room.
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While Pakistan’s vice captain Mohammad Rizwan admitted that the fan base’s criticism was needed, he refused speculations of internal conflicts and politics within the team, citing them as “outside chatter.”
“People are saying that there’s some politics within the team, and there are some differences. If there were any differences, we have also lost games before. This is just outside chatter. This same team has played finals, semi-finals, but it is true that we haven’t won a trophy,” Rizwan said during a press conference in Peshawar.
The wicketkeeper batter further acknowledged that the team should be held responsible for their performance and deserves criticism in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 204 in the USA and the West Indies. As a result of reports indicating struggling player unity and internal team issues, Pakistan came under heavier scrutiny after they were eliminated. The 32-year-old cricketer said that lots of things go wrong for a team that loses, as he was reflecting back on Pakistan’s campaign. The Peshawar-born star admitted that issues happened within the team.
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“The criticism the team is facing is justified, and we deserve this since we didn’t meet expectations. Players who can’t face criticism won’t be able to succeed. We are disappointed with our performance in the T20 World Cup. There are multiple reasons behind our losses. When a team loses, one can’t say that bowling and batting is doing well,” he added further.
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