Waseem, Latif blast Pakistan after sorry display

Believe team should have played more aggressively against West Indies

KARACHI: Former cricketer Muhammad Waseem feels that Pakistan has to change their strategies if they want to win outside UAE, while former captain Rashid Latif says Pakistan’s dismal display on the final day was expected.

“The team has to understand that the type of cricket they play to win in UAE will not be able to win them matches elsewhere; this slow-pace cricket will not help Pakistan win matches,” said Waseem.

Talking about the performance, Waseem said that the team lost not because of poor batting, but because of the result of not-up-to-the-mark bowling.

“Our bowling was not up to the mark; Pakistan gave away too many runs in the first innings. Once Pakistan had taken the lead in the first innings, the bowlers should have restricted West Indies to a low total,” he said. “Giving away this many runs on a pitch which was bowler-friendly does not entail good bowling.”

Waseem further added that he simply could not understand how Shai Hope, who made 90, stayed on the crease. “There wasn’t much difference between the pitch on the fourth day and the fifth day. I don’t understand how Hope was able to stay on the crease and score 90 on that pitch.”

The 39-year-old also said that a lack of planning by the bowlers cost Pakistan. “West Indies made our batsmen play not-so-strong shots as they were under pressure and had in mind that the pitch is not in their favour. You will not always get the conditions in your favour; you have make them,” he said. “Although Yasir Shah took seven wickets but he ended up giving away 94 runs which are too many on this pitch.”

He further added that Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq lost the tactical battle to Jason Holder once again. “It was a really good chance for the team to win the series as this West Indies team is not their best. They should have won the match easily if they played faster cricket; the team didn’t lose on the final day but on the fourth day when they gave so many runs.”

Meanwhile, Latif urged Pakistan players to play better under pressure.  “We did not play up to the level expected from Pakistan. These kinds of days come from players and they have to learn to soak up the pressure. The main reason for our defeat is that we played too slowly and gave away many runs,” he said.

He also added that hoped that in the next match, Pakistan should use the right bowlers according to the conditions and should also improve their game plan.