ISLAMABAD: Expressing his dismay over Pakistan’s World Cup quarter-final loss to Australia on Friday, former Test captain and pace bowling icon Wasim Akram lashed out at the national team batsmen, insisting there was a clear lack of proper strategy.

“There was a plan but when things went against them, Pakistan batsmen were all over,” Wasim said.

“The plan should have been to score 200 in 30 overs and then have a go in the last 10 overs. (But) they were losing wickets constantly and that was the end of any strategy.”

As the batsmen faltered, Pakistan, after reaching 97-2 in the 24th over with Misbah-ul-Haq (34) and Haris Sohail (41) at the crease, could only post 213 all out in the end off 49.5 overs on a pretty good batting track at the Adelaide Oval. No batsman could score a half-century.

While openers Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfraz Ahmed went back cheaply at the total of 24, Umar Akmal failed to deliver on his promise and squandered a good start but Haris, who had all the hard work must have been disgusted with himself the way he played a rash shot to Aussie left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson coming in to bowl him round the wicket -- only to be caught by Brad Haddin.

And Wasim minced no words in criticising Haris’ approach, or for that matter, that of the entire Pakistan batting line-up.“He [Haris] picked out the fastest bowler in the Aussie side,” he said. Akram questioned their thinking process, saying: “It shows they [Pakistan batsmen] are not evolving, they are not playing a thinking game.”

Wasim, however, had a word of special praise for left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz who bowled his heart out to rattle Shane Watson and his team-mates in Adelaide on Friday.

“Wahab is something special. Pakistan must stick with him,” Wasim insisted.

Former Test pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar also slammed the batsmen for Pakistan’s loss.

“It was a good batting wicket, and Pakistan should have scored 270, but our immature batting line-up doesn’t have the capacity to even bat out a full 50 overs,” Shoaib told a private TV channel.

Shoaib rued the absence of fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, who was sidelined by a hip injury.

“In the absence of an unfit Irfan, Pakistan were left with just one strike bowler in Wahab Riaz,” he regretted.

Meanwhile, Pakistan fans smashed their televisions in anger in Multan after the national team was ousted from the World Cup quarter-final by Australia on Friday.Local TV channels showed a handful of people taking their TVs outside and breaking them on the streets after the six-wicket loss in Adelaide.

Murtaza Badar, a 24-year-old businessman from Rawalpindi, expected Pakistan to do much better.

“I switched off my TV and got back to work once Pakistan gave the target of only 214 runs,” Badar told The Associated Press.

“How long are we going to see old faces in the team, who are simply doing nothing?”

Two of those old faces — captain Misbah-ul-Haq and former skipper Shahid Afridi — retired from One-day Internationals after the loss.

Misbah, who made his ODI debut in 2002, took over the captaincy after the last World Cup, where Afridi led the team to the semi-finals.

Misbah was the leading Pakistan run-scorer at the World Cup with 350, seventh best of all-comers. Afridi played his first ODI in 1996 at 16, and will carry on as the T20 captain. Just as Misbah will continue as the Test captain.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2015

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