Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja bashed the Green Shirts after losing the fourth T20I against New Zealand saying that the team shouldn’t use the excuse of testing the bench strength.
Raja, who served as the chairman of PCB for two years, lashed out at the team’s approach of doing experimentation and said that the same players are playing in the name of experimenting.
"There's experimentation happening here, 'so-called experimentation'. The same players are still involved, just their positions have been changed. Some are put on the bench, while others are given a chance to play," Ramiz said while talking on his YouTube channel.
He then urged the team to focus on winning matches and not give the excuse of testing bench strength whenever they lose.
"It is very important that the Pakistan team focuses on winning right now, rather than giving the excuse that they are testing bench strength. They're trying to assess the skills of some players, which is why they are justifying their below-par performance that if we lose the match, please bear with us," he further added.
Remember, in the fourth T20I, Babar Azam’s side came close to chasing the target down but fell four runs short as all-rounder Imad Wasim couldn’t take his side over the line in the last over.
After being put into bat first by Pakistan captain Babar Azam, the visitors posted 178/7 while Pakistan finished on 174/8 in the chase.
This was Pakistan’s second loss in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand and their chances of winning the series are over as even with a win in the last match, they would level it.
The last match of the series will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday and Babar’s men will have a chance to draw the series 2-2 by winning the encounter.
April 18 — 1st T20I, Rawalpindi: Match called off due to rain
April 20 — 2nd T20I, Rawalpindi: Pakistan won by seven wickets
April 21 — 3rd T20I, Rawalpindi: New Zealand won by seven wickets
April 25 — 4th T20I, Lahore: New Zealand won by four runs
April 27 — 5th T20I, Lahore