WEB DESK: Following the abandoned match between Pakistan and Bangladesh due to rain on Thursday, former’s captain Mohammad Rizwan said that sudden injuries of a key player can have a lasting impact on the team. He added, however, that should not be used to justify bad performance of the team in the ICC Champions Trophy hosted by Pakistan.
“Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub were injured in a major event, which affected us. We made mistakes in the tri-nation series and Champions Trophy, and we will work hard to rectify those errors,” he said. Rizwan admitted that the team did not perform up to the expectations.
He said that Pakistan always comes first for the team but the team is adamant on learning from the past mistakes.
Pakistan lost to India because of pitch disadvantage: Aqib Javed
Earlier this week, Captain Rizwan said Pakistan’s middle order succumbed to the pressure in the Champions Trophy defeat by fierce rivals India on February 22 that had left the tournament hosts’ chances of progressing to the knockout stage hanging by a thread. Bangladesh’s defeat to New Zealand however sealed the fate for the host nation, who were knocked out of the tournament on February 24.
Pakistan was to face Bangladesh today in Rawalpindi but the match was abandoned because of the rain which began in the morning.
Coach Aqib Javed while addressing a press conference on Wednesday said that the playing-11 were the right ones chosen for the squad, and the reason Pakistan lost to India was because the latter had a pitch advantage. The head coach, however, was quick to add that the team must improve in the home ground because it lose to New Zealand in Karachi.
Javed said that Pakistan-India match is more than just cricket, and experience is crucial for India-Pakistan clashes: “India had a more experienced squad, and we lost due to a lack of experienced players against India. If Pakistan had given a target of 280 to 300 runs, we may have stood a chance.”