Knives are out: Feuds in Pakistan team led to their downfall, says country’s media

The fallouts of Pakistan’s humiliating 89-run loss to India in the 2019 World Cup seem to be far-reaching. While there was general criticism all around about Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side failing to match the firepower of a superior Indian side, more serious charges have started surfacing as time is passing by.

According to a section of the Pakistani media, groupings and feud in the team saw the team underperforming in such a crucial match at Old Trafford. The loss has now put the former champions at a juncture where another loss could well see them going into the waiting list for their second crown by another four years.

Pakistan conceded 336 runs to India after choosing to bowl. Thereafter, their batting collapsed while making the steep chase and they managed only 212 for 6 in 40 overs to lose by 89 runs through the DLS Method. According to Pakistan’s ‘Samaa’ news channel, captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was livid after the loss and he straightaway accused some players including Imad Wasim and Imam-ul-Haq of forming groups against him and not backing him.

Another channel ‘Dunya’ also came out with a similar report saying there were different factions in the team – one led by Mohammad Amir and another by Imad — that were letting the captain down. The veteran member of the squad Shoaib Malik was also accused of doing the same.

However, when agencies contacted a few members of the side, they denied the existence of groupings but confirmed that Sarfaraz was fuming when he returned to the dressing room and went after some players.

“But it was more out of frustration and I don’t recall him blaming anyone or talking about groupings in the team but he did say the players needed to give more,” Timesnownews.com cited reports quoting a playing saying on the condition of anonymity.

“Even after we lost to Australia we had meetings to encourage each other and to discuss the areas where we had gone wrong. But when you are not doing well we tend to see these speculative stories in Pakistan media.”

Also read- World Cup 2019: Mohammad Amir requests fans to not abuse Pakistan players after India loss

Moin Khan wants PCB to back management

However, a former captain like Moin Khan wants the Pakistan Cricket Board to back its management at such a time of crisis. He said the coming out of the knives when the team is not doing well is a common phenomenon in Pakistan and backed Sarfaraz although conceded that key mistakes were made against both Australia and India.

“The point of concern is that our fielding and catching standards have been very shoddy and that has not helped,” he said.