Pakistan head coach unbowed by CT exit

KARACHI:

Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed's press conference in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, where he came out in defense of the team selected for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, clearly showed that he is living in a bubble and does not wish to come out of it.

The hosts were dumped out of the Champions Trophy in the group stage on Sunday after yet another humiliating defeat against India and the embarrassing result has had the entire nation up in arms since, amid deafening calls of an overhaul from the former players and critics.

However, Aaqib - a former Test and ODI fast bowler who is currently enjoying an enviable position in Pakistan Cricket as head coach-chief selector-mentor rolled into one – quite unabashedly defended the blundering Pakistan outfit when he said, "the players were chosen on merit and will be motivated by pride in their match against Bangladesh on Thursday."

"There are no excuses, there shouldn't be any in life, but I can assure you that the players are more hurt than the fans and want to leave a mark in the last game," said Aaqib on Wednesday.

He admitted losing to arch-rivals India left fans emotional. "People are more involved in an India-Pakistan match and they do not accept a defeat against India and that defeat in Dubai has left them more dejected."

However, the harsh truth is that Aaqib's presser was nothing but a shoddy attempt to shift the blame from the blundering selectors whose inconsistent, irrational selection for the prestigious event proved to be disastrous and astounded the followers of the game in the country.

While the repercussions of the illogical selection for the mega event were instant - as Pakistan went down without a fight to a clinical New Zealand in the opening trophy game in Karachi - the impact is set to be long lasting in view of the post-ouster fall out that appears to be imminent now.

It was ironical that just as head coach Aaqib was addressing the press in Pindi, alarming stories of skipper Mohammad Rizwan's disagreement with the head coach over Champions Trophy selection started to take rounds in the media.

According to reports, Rizwan was not satisfied with the selection of rusty all-rounder Faheem Ashraf for the Champions Trophy, but Aaqib reportedly stuck to his guns and insisted that Ashraf will be a part of the squad.

Rizwan later made his displeasure evident by leaving out Ashraf from both the Champions Trophy games - against New Zealand and India.

Adding fuel to fire on Wednesday was another statement from the sacked Aussie head coach Jason Gillespie, who said he was shocked at the omission of spinner Sufyan Muqeem and all-rounder Irfan Khan Niazi from the Champions Trophy squad as the two were outstanding talents and the salient performers in the ODI series wins in Australia and South Africa last December.

However, Aaqib rather than acknowledging the errors in selection, went off on a different tangent when he said: "The players are not satisfied, no one is satisfied after losing, but everyone tries hard to win and by doing so we have recently won a series in Australia and South Africa."

So, if that was such a masterstroke, to beat the two best sides on their own turf, why on earth did Mr Aaqib and Company alter the winning combination is a million dollar question.

The former players, including the best cricketing minds like Wasim Akram and Rashid Latif, refused to subscribe to Aaqib's rather inane point of view.

"I feel very despondent with the state of Pakistan cricket," former captain Rashid Latif told AFP. "We have to follow merit and bring in professionals in the administration of the game and not people on a political basis.

"Frequent changes in the Pakistan Cricket Board, selection committee and captains have failed us in forming a proper set-up and team," said the ex-skipper.

Wasim, utterly dismayed by the team's performance, especially the pace trio, said: "We have been backing these players for the last few years but they are not learning nor improving. It is time for a major shake-up. We need to improve our system of domestic cricket so that we can produce quality cricketers, not ordinary ones," Wasim told AFP.

But Aaqib, former fast bowler himself, who played 22 Tests and 163 ODIs for Pakistan, backed his struggling pace trio. "People blamed two, three players, which is not correct," said Aaqib. "If you assess Shaheen (Afridi), Naseem (Shah) and Haris (Rauf), they are still the best bowlers in the world."

Given Aaqib's central role in the Pakistan Cricket Board today, it was disappointing to see that he was not the least bit contrite about the team's poor show and was not ready to shoulder the blame for the Champions Trophy disaster.

His stubborn adherence to his views is, unfortunately, reflective of the culture prevalent in the PCB and it would, therefore, take nothing short of a complete overhaul at all levels to ensure the revival of Pakistan Cricket.