Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said the banning of several senior players and ongoing disciplinary action by home officials was hampering the team's defence of its World Twenty20 title.
The champions lost a thrilling Super Eights match to New Zealand by just one run at the Kensington Oval here on Saturday, a defeat that left Pakistan with only a slim mathematical chance of reaching the semi-finals of this year's World Twenty20. But they arrived in the Caribbean without several senior players after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to take action following the team's recent tour of Australia where they failed to win a single international match.
Former captains Younus Khan, who led Pakistan to World Twenty20 glory in England last year, and Mohammad Yousuf were both banned indefinitely for what the PCB said was "infighting which resulted in a negative influence on the team".
Shoaib Malik, another former captain, and pace bowler Rana Naved were both banned for a year and fined two million rupees (24,000 dollars) for disciplinary breaches.
Meanwhile Afridi and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were fined three million rupees and placed on probation for six months, also for violations of discipline and Umar Akmal, Kamran's brother, was fined two million rupees. Pakistan could certainly have done with one of their missing batsmen against New Zealand as they just failed to chase down a target of 134, despite a defiant 67 not out from opener Salman Butt. "We are coming out from a very difficult time after the New Zealand and Australia tours," said Afridi. "The selection committee picks the team for us and first they announce the team before naming the captain and coach. Maybe in the future we can all sit together and pick a good bunch of guys.
Afridi, still effective as a leg-spinner at this level, has failed to live up to his billing as one of the world's most dangerous limited overs batsmen in the Caribbean and on Saturday he holed out for 11. "My performance is always very key as captain but this time I haven't performed so maybe that's why we haven't had a good result," Afridi said.
Pakistan, who lost to England by six wickets in their opening Super Eights match here on Thursday, face South Africa in their final second round fixture in St Lucia on Monday.
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