Pakistan were mentally disintegrated after losing the first ODI against England: Ramiz Raja

Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja is not surprised by his team being whitewashed to a second-string team England in the three-match ODI series. Raja feels Pakistan was always lagging behind after their shambolic performance in the first ODI, wherein they were bowled out for just 141.

Although Pakistan posted a challenging score of 331 onboard, they still could not stop England batters from chasing it down and avoid a series whitewash. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam scored a classy 158, but, James Vince too was elegant with a superb maiden hundred to help his team win the match with two overs to spare.

Commenting on the ODI series on his YouTube channel, Raja described the series whitewash as a tough pill to swallow for Pakistan cricket and its passionate fans.

“A B-grade team whitewashed Pakistan. I am not surprised with the result. Pakistan were mentally disintegrated after losing the first ODI. They could never recover from the shock. Headlines all over the world said that Pakistan lost to an England side assembled in two days due to the COVID-19 crisis.”

The cricketer-turned-commentator further opined that Pakistan should have learned from their mistakes in the first ODI and should have been smarter while playing against England in the next two ODIs.

“Before the second match, there was pressure on Pakistan as a loss would have cost them the series. And they made plenty of mistakes. This has become a trend in Pakistan cricket. They do not learn from mistakes. Instead, when the pressure is on, they double their mistakes. And so they handed over the series.”

Ramiz Raja reckons Pakistan batters should have scored more in the third ODI

Pakistan batters stood up to the task and finally posted a score that was competitive as well as challenging in the third ODI. But Raja felt rather than scoring 331, Pakistan should have pressed the accelerator and should have scored a total in the range of 350 to 360.

“Coming into the final ODI, they were again under pressure, knowing a whitewash was looming. And so, despite Pakistan scoring 331, England chased down the target with ease. When you are mentally down, nobody in the world can help you unless you are able to help yourself. In such a situation, even a simple situation looks difficult. This is exactly what Pakistan showed in the final ODI. The fielding was rubbish. Catches were dropped, there were misfields and missed run-outs.”