The world has moved on, Pakistan is still playing 80’s cricket: Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan has been on a constant downfall in T20Is after losing the home series against Sri Lanka and now against Australia. After their loss on Friday, the former Pakistan speedster, Shoaib Akhtar has lost his cool on Pakistan’s T20I skipper Babar Azam. The current number one ranked team in T20Is is having a miserable time on the field.

Adding to the woes for the Pakistan team, their captain Babar Azam has given the fans another state of embarrassment. In the third T20 vs Australia, during the toss, Babar mistakenly listed Naseem Shah’s name in the eleven, which was corrected later.

Shoaib Akhtar terms the team’s display as ‘clueless’

Pakistan has not just lost the series but the manner of the defeat is what is hurting the former pacer. Akhtar has been vocal about Pakistan’s loopholes in their performance previously as well. This is their fourth T20I series loss on the trot. Fuming on the recent display by his team, Akhtar tweeted about the sorry state of affairs and mention their display as ‘clueless’.

“I understand that a captain is under pressure and might have a little confusion. But how is he under so much pressure that he loses the plot like that? This is our star player for you. They can learn a lot from here. Improving as a person and player is very important,” said Akhtar on his YouTube channel.

Shoaib, having played during the best phase of Pakistan cricket, is sorrowed by the current lot of players’ lack of determination and inconsistency. He said that Pakistan is still playing the 1980’s style of cricket and has no parity with the standard of rest of the world’s cricket.

Shoaib Akhtar’s prediction for the next year’s T20 world cup

Akhtar has also warned the Pakistan team to gear up their performance as the T20 World Cup is knocking on the door. Given the style of play, he thinks it is impossible for Pakistan to put on a fight in the next year’s ICC event. He believes giving new players a chance is the only option Pakistan team management has and they should stick to the strategy of backing the youngsters.

Akhtar stated, “If Pakistan continues to play in this clueless manner they will continue to suffer. It is a sad scenario. The World Cup is next year. I think there are many T20Is in between. They need to think about what they want to do. Pakistan needs to get up. The world has moved on. Pakistan is still playing 80’s cricket. They can’t do that.”

Here’s the video