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England’s Ben Duckett and and Ben Stokes celebrate after winning the Third Test on the fourth day of the match between Pakistan and England at Karachi’s National Stadium. PHOTO: ONLINE
Pakistan’s former national cricket team captain Shahid Afridi on Tuesday stated that a difference in mindset and of playing ‘old fashioned’ cricket against ‘modern’ cricket had led to Pakistan’s embarrassing series whitewash at home, a first in the country’s history.
Talking in SAMAA TV show Game, Set, Match, Shahid Afridi said the Pakistani team was playing old fashioned cricket.
On the other hand, the visitors played aggressive, modern cricket.
Shahid Afridi said that as soon as they touched down in Pakistan, England gave a clear message, they were here to play positive cricket and wanted results.
The former captain said that other countries adopted their style of cricket to counter England.
But Pakistan failed to adapt.
Shahid Afridi stated that former cricketers and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were responsible for not working on cricket at the grassroot level which would have helped created a good crop of cricketers with adaptive skillsets that could have helped Pakistan.
He blamed the PCB for changing its policies after every few years. The lack of consistency in policies ultimately hurting cricket.
Shahid Afridi believed that it was unfair to blame only skipper Babar Azam for the historic loss.
He added that the team management also needs to share some of the blame, noting that they needed to talk to Babar Azam and make the necessary changes in their overall approach.
Shahid Afridi pointed out that England did not always play cricket in this manner but changed after appointing new coach Brendon McCullum who brought with him a different mindset and style.
Bemoaning the selection headaches the team had after their top three strike bowlers were sidelined due to injury, Shahid Afridi said that it had become impossible for Pakistan to bowl out the English team twice with only three genuine bowlers.
He asked where were Shahnawaz Dahani and Muhammad Hasnain, who had toured to Australia with the team but were then suddenly left out of this series even though the team lost key bowlers to injuries.
With New Zealand due to arrive in Pakistan next, Shahid Afridi advised the team to learn from their experience against England and opt to start with genuine bowlers then support them with bowling friendly conditions – pitches.
After the show in his tweet, Shahid Afridi also asked fans to support the team in the upcoming New Zealand series, because the players must be devastated after the whitewash against England and need the public behind them.
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