‘Pakistan becomes United’: Shehzad slams Afridi management

Former Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shehzad has launched a blistering attack on the team’s leadership after his team lost 2-1 to Bangladesh, warning that cricket in Pakistan has slipped to alarming levels.After Pakistan lost by 11 runs in the third and final ODI in Dhaka, Shehzad criticized captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and head coach Mike Hesson, accusing the management of making excuses instead of addressing the deeper issues within the team.Push boundaries with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!“After the pathetic end of the T20 World Cup season, you didn’t make any changes. You brought youngsters out of nowhere. Now you have lost the series and you are making excuses for bringing youngsters into the starting XI,” Shehzad said on his YouTube channel. “If you don’t admit your mistakes, you will never move forward in life.”Pakistan were missing senior batsmen Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman for the series, with the team management giving conflicting explanations. While Afridi and Hesson stated that the two have been rested, chief selector Aqib Javed claimed that the two were injured during the recent ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.Shehzad also questioned Pakistan’s tactical decisions, particularly Afridi’s decision to bowl first in the series decider.“When you win the toss, why do you decide to bowl? It’s a good pitch. You’re supposed to bat and run on the plate and then bowl under the lights,” he said. “When your older players are like this, what do you expect from the young guys?”Bangladesh sealed the series thanks to a stellar performance from Tanzid Hasan, who smashed a 107-run knock to lead the hosts to 290 for 5 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha scored 106 but the visitors were bowled out for 279 with Taskin Ahmed taking four wickets.The defeat follows Pakistan’s disappointing exit from the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup, which saw them fail to reach the semi-finals of the ICC event for the fourth consecutive time.Shehzad dismissed attempts by management to downplay the setbacks. “You say you beat Australia and South Africa but they never played a full team game. If you wanted to improve Pakistan cricket, you would have done it now. “In his harshest criticism, Shehzad warned that Pakistan’s standing in international cricket was in sharp decline.“You’re becoming a team of assistants,” he said. “People are now treating Pakistan the same way they treated Zimbabwe. And then you say we exited the World Cup because of the run-rate. Shame on us.”