New Delhi: The Pakistan cricket team’s rough patch has continued with their loss to Zimbabwe in the first ODI. Some are blaming the Pakistan Cricket Board’s coach selection process, while others bemoan star batsman Babar Azam’s absence.
“Someone send Babar Azam on the next flight to Zimbabwe,” wrote Dr Samara Afzal, a cricket commentator and coach based in the UK, on X.
Azam was apparently rested for the match to give a chance to younger players, a move that sports journalist Saleem Khaliq hailed as the ‘best decision’.
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Young players, new coach
“Young players must be given a chance against the smaller teams, star players have no business in these matches,” Khaliq posted on X, highlighting the possibility of Pakistan discovering new talent.
Not everyone agrees with him.
“If the new talent means losing to Zimbabwe and spoiling the record then a hundred times curse on such talent,” read a comment to Khaliq’d post.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) initially seemed confident when Pakistani bowlers held Zimbabwe at 205 from 40.2 overs, highlighting Faisal Akram’s three wickets.
But wickets fell quickly and painfully for the Pakistani team, who managed a paltry 60 runs for 6 wickets before rain stopped play.
The match was ultimately called off by officials, who awarded the win to Zimbabwe by the DLS (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) method, a formula used to calculate target scores for the second batting team when the match has been interrupted by adverse weather conditions.
Abdul Ghaffer, head of sports at Dawn News, placed the blame on PCB’s coach selection strategy.
“The way we let go Gary Kirsten & make him villain & bring Aqib Javed without any proper process it was bound to happen,” the journalist wrote on X.
The defeat comes on the back of their T20 series loss to Australia, during which they announced Aqib Javed as interim white-ball coach.
Israr Muhammad, a self-described patriot, wasted no time in letting the PCB know his thoughts on the loss.
“Well-done. Keep up the hard work. Those days are near when we will be in the line of great teams like Kenya, uganda,” the X post read.
In the end, Pakistanis dealt with the loss the only way they knew how—sarcasm and dry humour.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)