ISLAMABAD: Former Captain Rameez Raja while reacting to Waqar Younis’ public apology for the green-shirts disastrous performance in the World Twenty20 said the team’s graph had gone down in the last three years.
Former star Muhammad Yousuf said Pakistan Cricket Board must take “hard decisions” in the current situation while another star of the past, Shoaib Akhter, blamed “each and every player as well as PCB” for the team’s decline.
Waqar on Tuesday apologized to nation over team’s poor performance in ongoing World T20, begging for forgiveness from the nation.
Rameez said a lot of people had been pardoned for failing to deliver good results. “The thing is no one is willing to face criticism or resign voluntarily,” he said while talking to a private news channel.
He said if the team had been producing good results the situation would have been different. “The sad part is that neither have we seen a change in performance nor the mindset. So the time has now come for changes,” he said.
He said he had played with Waqar and didn’t want to hurt him by saying anything more. “A lot of space and liberty has already been given to stakeholders. Now the time has come for hard decisions,” Rameez said.
The former captain said if our talent on the bench is not good enough whose fault is it?
“The skill level of some players is just not improving. I think it is time to rest some players and try new faces,” he said.
“When I was criticised, I resigned and left on my own. I think two years is enough for anyone to prove himself and if that does not happen he should leave himself,” he said.
Former Test Cricketer Muhammad Yousuf said it made no sense for Waqar to apologise after two years.
“He is one of our greats and it would be better if he is assigned with the junior team like Rahul Dravid is working with the Indian juniors. I am sure he will produce better results and players,” Yousuf said.
He said hard decisions need to be taken now. “Bring honest people who are willing to give time and commitment to their jobs.”
Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar said although Waqar had apologised but each and every person in the team and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was responsible for the decline.
“The target and ambition of our players are very small now and they don’t have the talent or achievements to even think about forming groupings in the team,” he said.
He said Waqar is one of our greats and it was painful to see him apologising. “I don’t think anything will change by individuals apologising. A lot of things need to be set right in Pakistan cricket,” Akhtar said.
