Melbourne: The ripples of their defeat to India in last Sunday’s game can still be felt in the Pakistan dressing room.
While skipper Misbah-ul Haq has a cool head, the tempers of other players in the team are not the same. Even when Pakistan journalists were blunt enough to ask him as to why the team has not been able to beat India in the World Cup, he smiled instead of getting agitated and then went on to clarify what went wrong.
However, other players in his team have not been able to show the kind of maturity that their captain displays, both on and off the field.
According to informed sources, some of the Pakistan players misbehaved with their fielding coach Grant Luden, leading him to file a complaint with Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan. It seems all-rounder Shahid Afridi, Ahmad Shehzad and wicketkeeper Umar Akmal used abusive and harsh language against Luden. This seems to have happened during a training session.
All former Pakistan cricketers had blasted the Pakistan players after they lost to India. Though the call to remove Misbah as captain has strengthened following the defeat, the skipper has taken the attack sportingly.
Afridi, being touted for captaincy, has already been involved in two controversies during this World Cup. He was among the eight cricketers who broke the team curfew rule the night before their match against India at Adelaide. They arrived 45 minutes late from a dinner with their friends and got fined Australian $300 (Dh860) each by the Pakistan team management.
After former captain Javed Miandad blasted the team’s decision to promote Younis Khan as an opener instead of asking specialist opener and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmad to open the innings, Pakistan fans here too believe that their team management blundered with this decision.
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar’s statement that the current Pakistan team is the weakest ever to play in a World Cup has further dented the spirit of the team.
Misbah has, meanwhile, asked his team to erase the India match out of their minds and start focusing on the coming matches.
“The match that is over is gone. Our team is still capable. We must approach the tournament with positive thinking. We have lost one match, no issues. We must come back and win the next match. Throughout this World Cup, you may lose and win but you have got to keep your morale up and ensure that you don’t repeat mistakes. Come back and try to win the matches to follow.”
Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain and legendary bowler Wasim Akram has stepped forward and offered to help the Pakistan players salvage their pride in the World Cup campaign.
Akram is here as a commentator, and he said: “Even now if they ask me I will go and help them in anyway because I know a lot about modern day cricket and players in this World Cup, and I want to see Pakistan reach at least the knockout stage.”
