Pakistan's humiliating defeat in T20 format at the hands of Sri Lanka has been a bitter pill to swallow for fans and cricket pundits as many are demanding change, including ex-cricketer Basit Ali, who has urged the cricketing authorities to introduce separate coaches for each format.
“The national side would not be able to produce good results in T20 format with Misbah-ul-Haq as the coach. However, he can become a good coach for Test format,” said Basit while talking to a private channel. “Now it’s time to have separate coaches for T20, ODIs and Test format,” he added.
Earlier, former cricketer-turned- cricket commentator Ramiz Raja also said that Pakistan needs separate coach for T20 format. “We have to reassess the role of Misbah-ul-Haq in T20 cricket, as there are a lot of responsibilities on his shoulder, being the coach in all formats. I believe that in T20 cricket we need to bring in another coach, and a power-hitter coach in order to correct our direction in this format,” said Raja, in a video.
Talking about comeback duo of Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad, the former cricketer said that the two should be shown the door and instead fresh faces should be introduced in their place.
“I believe that we should bid goodbye to Akmal and Shehzad, they have been playing for 10 years yet they are given chances instead of players like Abid Ali, who won the Man of the Match award in his first ODI but he was not included in T20I squad, which is unjust,” said Basit.
Both Akmal and Shehzad failed to impress in their comebacks, with Akmal going out on golden ducks in both matches while Shehzad also disappointed with the bat.
Sri Lanka enjoying an unassailable lead of 2-0 would meet the hosts Pakistan for the final time for the third T20I at Lahore.