Champions Trophy exit in just 6 days – that’s the reality for the Pakistan cricket in the ongoing tournament. Being the hosts of the event, Pakistan were expected to challenge for the title but little went their way since the tournament began. After losing the match against New Zealand, Pakistan struggled to stand up against Rohit Sharma’s Team India on Sunday. As analysts sit down and opine on what went wrong for Pakistan, Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar feels the level that Mohammad Rizwan’s side has is just not good enough.
Giving his scathing analysis of Pakistan’s performance in the Champions Trophy, Gavaskar feels even India’s B team will give the side a run for its money.
“I think a B team certainly (can give Pakistan a run for their money). C team, I am not too sure. But a B team will be very, very hard to beat for Pakistan in their current form,” Gavaskar said on Sports Today.
Gavaskar was astonished to see nothing going Pakistan’s way in the Champions Trophy showdown against India. He even questioned the lack of bench strength the team has despite the presence of an Indian Premier League-like Pakistan Super League (PSL) in the nation.
“The first ball (Mohammad) Rizwan faced, he hit for a boundary. Straightaway, I thought there would be a change in approach because, until then, it was all about knocking the ball around. But nothing changed. Before they knew it, the Indian spinners were finishing their overs quickly. It was quite surprising that nothing went their way,” he said.
“I think it’s surprising-this lack of bench strength. Pakistan always had natural talent. Natural in the sense that they may not have always been technically correct, but they had an instinctive understanding of bat and ball. Look at Inzamam-ul-Haq, for example. If you look at his stance, you wouldn’t recommend that to a young batter, but he had great temperament. With that kind of temperament, he made up for any technical shortcomings,” Gavaskar said.
“It’s surprising that Pakistan have not been able to produce such talents. They also have the Pakistan Super League. How has India produced so many young stars in white-ball cricket? It’s because of the IPL. Players from there have gone on to play in the Ranji Trophy and eventually for India. That is something Pakistan cricket must analyse. They need to figure out why they no longer have the bench strength they once did,” said Gavaskar.
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