‘Aapke Paas Skillset Hi Nahi Hai’: Ex-Captain Slams Pakistan For Poor Show Against India | Cricket News

India beat Pakistan by 7 wickets [AFP Photo]

Pakistan bit the dust against India once again when they squared off in the Asia Cup group stage fixture on Sunday in Dubai. The men in green managed just 127 runs in 20 overs, crutching on Sahibzada Farhan’s rusty 40-run knock, followed by a quick cameo from Shaheen Shah Afridi down the order. In reply, India chased down the target successfully with 25 balls to spare.

The performance against India left Pakistan’s cricket fraternity disappointed. Former captain Shoaib Malik lashed out at Salman Agha & Co. for lacking intent against the men in blue in Dubai on Sunday night.

“It’s not surprising at all. Not one bit. Let me take you back a little—if you look at 2022–23, whenever we face tough conditions, we collapse. Whenever there’s spin, or when the ball moves a bit, we completely forget how to bat,” Malik said on Tapmad.

“We simply don’t know how to build an innings when facing quality spin bowlers. Our shot selection is strange. So, for me, this is not surprising.”

“The only hope I had was if we had managed 160–170 runs, maybe then our bowlers could’ve had something to fight with. But once our batting collapses, there’s no chance. They neither know how to find the boundary nor rotate the strike, and yet they are representing the country.”

Malik added that the loss against India was an eye-opener for the stakeholders to take strong action to uplift Pakistan’s cricket. He even warned that if proper measures are not taken on time, cricket in Pakistan might succumb just like hockey.

“Look, I feel our stakeholders need to open their eyes. Hockey went down the same path, and now cricket has almost reached the same stage. But against big teams, we have no chance,” Malik said.

“Because we never really grew our cricket. People kept saying “do this, do that,” but nobody paid attention. Today’s game shows exactly where our cricket stands.  When you face quality spinners, at the very least, you should know how to survive against them. The way we played today was very disappointing,” he added.

Malik concluded by saying that the current Pakistani team lacks the necessary skill set to compete against top teams.

“This should be an eye-opener. What happens with us is—we put all our hopes in one person. We hire someone, run cricket under him for 4–6 months, then he leaves us in a mess. Then we bring in someone else, repeat the cycle.”

“So today was a big eye-opener. It showed exactly where our cricket stands. It wasn’t just a bad day—no. Sacchai ye hai ki aapke paas skillset hi nahi hai (The truth is we don’t have the skills) to compete against big teams, unfortunately, we have no chance,” Malik concluded.