'Complacent' Pakistan responsible for their own downfall, says Zaheer Abbas

Former captain believes the team is not performing in any of the three departments

Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas has criticised the Misbahul Haq-led unit of complacency, saying that the team is just not performing in any of the three departments — batting, bowling and fielding.

"We got careless after becoming number one in the rankings which I believe is the reason of our bad performances in New Zealand and Australia,” Zaheer was quoted by cricket.com.au. "If you are the best team, you have got to perform in every condition; but we are just doing well in the UAE.”

He further added, "We were neither up to the mark with the bat nor with the ball; we also dropped lots of catches and did not appeal for dismissals. We just failed to perform in all the three departments of the game.”

The 69-year-old further said that the team was lucky to win on the tour of England earlier this year, which played a crucial role in team’s earning the top spot in the ranking.

"We were lucky that the ball didn't swing much in England, otherwise the result would have been the same there as well," said Zaheer.

Zaheer also believes that former captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, both of whom played a crucial role in helping WAPDA win the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy title last week, are still good enough to play for Pakistan.

"I don't consider Salman [Butt] and Kamran [Akmal] old because Misbah and Younus are still playing in old ages," he said.

Zaheer, who represented Pakistan in 78 Tests and 62 ODIs, also feels that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should consider playing the home series in England instead of the UAE to help the team become better prepared for tours abroad.

“In England, our team will also find a good number of fans who live there," the former batsman said.