Sarfraz Ahmed takes the blame for Pakistan’s debacle, terms their game ‘very poor’

Not a lot went the way Pakistan cricket team captain Sarfraz Ahmed intended it to be in the Asia Cup 2018. He endured another difficult outing, both with bat and as captain, in Pakistan’s 37-run defeat to Bangladesh in the virtual semi-final. Bangladesh have entered their third final in the last four Asia Cup outings and will be facing India on Friday in the summit clash.

More than his batting, it is his leadership that has come under the scanner, with several fans and experts on social media demanding that Sarfraz, who led his side to the Champions Trophy win last year, be sacked. Speaking at the post-match presentation, the wicketkeeper-batsman admitted that the team didn’t do well in any department, and didn’t mind taking the blame for the same.

“We are obviously not feeling good. As a team, we have not done well. Our performance has been very poor. As a player, I have done really badly too. I should have done better. We were poor in every facet of the game,” said the 31-year-old, whose personal best score in the tournament was 44 against India.

Praises for Shaheen Afridi 

The only major positive for Sarfraz’s men was the performance Shaheen Afridi, whose pace and accuracy was brilliant. The veteran Shoaib Malik was as consistent as he has ever been, Junaid Khan in the last match, his only outing produced a brilliant spell but all these were moments and didn’t convert into game-changing impact.

“There were lot of batting collapses for us in the tournament. Fakhar is our main batsman, he failed to perform in this tournament and Shadab was hit by injury too. We have to play well to beat good teams. Our batting was the main reason for our defeat in this tournament. Shaheen Afridi is a talented youngster, we have given him opportunities to showcase his talent and he has done well too,” Sarfraz concluded.

A convincing eight-wicket win over Hong Kong in the tournament opener hinted that Pakistan were going to be a force. However, the win was followed by an eight-wicket defeat to India, a last-over win over Afghanistan in the Super Fours, and then consecutive losses to India and Bangladesh.

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