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'Are they not paid enough?': Pakistan stars' 'professionalism' questioned by Javed Miandad in fiery rant
Pakistan great Javed Miandad has said that questions need to be asked of the players as well and not just of the PCB and the selectors.
Fingers are being pointed at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and selectors after Pakistan's lacklustre performances in the Champions Trophy. Pakistan suffered heavy defeats to New Zealand and arch-rivals India and are now knocked out of the tournament they are hosting. Former captain and batting great Javed Miandad has said that questions need to be asked of the players as well.
"It is useless blaming the system, selectors and all that," Miandad is quoted as saying by PTI. "Question is are these selected players short on anything? Does not the PCB take care of them? Are they not paid enough? So where is the passion and fire and professionalism to perform in big matches and tournaments."
'Players were under pressure even before the match began'
Pakistan's batters' lack of intent was seen as a key reason behind the defeat to India. Pakistan their way to 241 all out in 49.4 overs. India chased down the target in 42.3 overs with Virat Kohli scoring an unbeaten 100 in 111 balls. New Zealand beat Bangladesh the next day which confirmed Pakistan's first-round exit in the Champions Trophy.
Miandad said that the players seemed to be feeling the pressure even before the match began. "Truth is our players were under pressure even before the match began. Look at their body language, not one of them appeared to be in a mood to dominate Indian bowlers," he said.
Pakistan were hurt by the absence of their regular opener Fakhar Zaman. He was replaced by a struggling Imam-ul-Haq, who scored just 10 runs in 26 balls before running himself out. They were also without Saim Ayub. Fakhar and Ayub are known to be Pakistan's most explosive batters and India great Sunil Gavaskar earlier said he was surprised that they didn't have proper replacements for the players.
"I think it's surprising-this lack of bench strength. Pakistan always had natural talent. Natural in the sense that they may not have always been technically correct, but they had an instinctive understanding of bat and ball. Look at Inzamam-ul-Haq, for example. If you look at his stance, you wouldn't recommend that to a young batter, but he had great temperament. With that kind of temperament, he made up for any technical shortcomings," Gavaskar said.
