• “Cannot simply replace the entire team with the Under-19 squad”.
• “This was the best possible team we had,” says coach Aqib Javed.
• He concedes that team’s performance was not up to the mark.
  

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s interim head coach Aqib Javed said on Wednesday that the management would take steps in the best interest of the national team following their humiliating exit from the Champions Trophy.

The Mohammad Rizwan-led team was disqualified from the mega event, which Pakistan is hosting, after two successive defeats — at the hands of New Zealand and India — during the group stage.

Speaking at a press conference in Rawalpindi, Javed dismissed the notion that players were selected without merit, saying: “Not a single player in the squad was included without performance”.

“We cannot simply replace the entire team with the Under-19 squad just because we lost,” he noted.

Acknowledging the players’ disappointment, Javed said that the team was disheartened. “When they fail to meet expectations, the players themselves are the most affected”.

Javed pointed to India’s experience as a decisive factor in Pakistan’s elimination, saying: “The Indian team was highly experienced. When defending 240 runs, taking wickets and attacking are crucial.

“Planning is not limited to just playing against India; it applies to every match,” he remarked.

When asked about his satisfaction with team selection, the interim coach responded: “You can never be fully satisfied, but this was the best possible team we had. The belief behind the selection was to create the strongest squad”.

Acknowledging Pakistan’s struggles, he said that it is a fact that the team’s performance is not up to the mark. However, Javed noted, that improvements must be made, and this process cannot be halted.

He further added: “The selection committee’s job is to field the best players. Moving forward, we will make decisions in the best interest of the team. Our focus remains on preparing for the next match”.

The coach’s remarks come against the outcry by fans and cricket fraternity alike after Pakistan, the defending champions, lost their opening game to New Zealand by 60 runs in Karachi last week before Sunday’s six-wicket defeat to arch-rivals India pushed them to the brink of an early exit.

Pakistan needed Bangladesh to beat New Zealand on Monday to keep their slim hopes of a place in the semi-finals alive, but the result went the other way.

Thursday’s match with Bangladesh in Rawalpindi has been reduced to a dead rubber.

A lack of competitiveness in domestic cricket and low-quality pitches have been blamed for not preparing players for the international stage.

The sport in Pakistan is also held back by frequent changes to the cricket board, coaching teams and selection panels, critics say.

Apart from the players being in the crosshairs, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has also come under scrutiny over the team’s dismal performance with even calls for his removal over “repeated failures”.

This isn’t the first mega-tournament that Pakistan have performed poorly at. The national side, in 2023, only managed to win four out of their nine matches and finished in fifth position on the points table with eight points in the ODI World Cup 2023.

The Green Shirts then also crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2024 which saw them losing to India as well as the United States.