Mohammad Rizwan disputed that there were politics and “groupism” within the Pakistan men’s cricket team that led to its T20 World Cup exit.
Visit M88 Sports for more cricket news and updates.
Check out M88 Mansion’s best offers here.
RIZWAN DISPUTES POLITICS, ‘GROUPISM’ ISSUES THAT LED TO PAKISTAN’S EARLY EXIT
Rizwan disputed rumors that politics and “groupism” issues have led to Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024.
Furthermore, the wicketkeeper-batter dismissed as “outside chatter” the rumors of politics and groupism swirling among the team’s players.
“People are saying that there’s some politics within the team, and there are some differences. If there were any differences, we have also lost games before,” Rizwan said.
“This is just outside chatter. This same team has played finals, semifinals, but it is true that we haven’t won a trophy,” he added.
Moreover, Pakistan lost to tournament hosts United States and eventual champion India to be eliminated in the group stages.
“We are disappointed with our performance in the T20 World Cup,” Rizwan acknowledged.
RIZWAN ADMITS FANS’ CRITICISM JUSTIFIED AMID CAPTAINCY ISSUES
Furthermore, Rizwan admitted that fans’ criticism of the team was justified amid captaincy issues surrounding Pakistan’s early exit.
“The criticism the team is facing is justified, and we deserve this since we didn’t meet expectations. Players who can’t face criticism won’t be able to succeed,” the wicketkeeper said.
“There are multiple reasons behind our losses. When a team loses, one can’t say that bowling and batting is doing well,” he added.
Moreover, multiple reports surfaced that captaincy issues surrounding Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Rizman also hampered Pakistan’s campaign.
Azam reportedly wanted to unite the team but was hampered by the groupings’ issues surrounding them.
Interestingly, Afridi was upset at losing the captaincy, while Babar was not backing him up.
Additionally, Rizwan was unhappy that he was not considered for the captaincy post.
TEAM INDIA’S ARRIVAL IN DELHI MOVED TO THURSDAY
Meanwhile, Team India’s long-awaited arrival in New Delhi will be moved to Thursday morning as the squad remained in Barbados.
Moreover, the team’s charter flight, which came from New Jersey, came late in reaching Barbados.
Rohit Sharma and his men were stuck in Barbados since beating South Africa for the T20 World Cup 2024 title on Saturday.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla disclosed that the players will fly to Delhi on Wednesday evening.
“Thank God team India is flying back from Barbados this evening in Delhi. Will be reaching tomorrow (Thursday) evening,” Shukla said on X (formerly Twitter).
“They were stuck for three days there because of massive hurricane. The BCCI has made all arrangement for the safe flight of players back home,” he added.
The BCCI official noted that the board’s secretary, Jay Shah, is personally “monitoring the whole situation.”
