Shoaib Malik, the veteran Pakistan all-rounder, took to Twitter to question ‘unacquainted decision makers’ in the team management after their shock 19-run loss to Zimbabwe in a T20I in Harare.
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Led by Babar Azam, Pakistan suffered a humiliating collapse in the second T20I of the ongoing series, losing their last seven wickets for just 21 runs in their pursuit of 119-run target. It was the first time Zimbabwe had defeated Pakistan in a T20I in 16 games.
Malik, the most capped T20I player and the team’s second-highest run-getter in the format, has been out of Pakistan’s T20I side since their tour to England last year.
Since Malik’s exclusion, Pakistan have won three out of their four T20I series, collecting victories against Zimbabwe and South Africa (twice), but stumbled in dramatic fashion against Zimbabwe, the No.11 ranked T20I team, on Friday. Skipper Babar Azam called it a ‘painful’ performance, mentioning that the team “played poor cricket and continued to struggle in the middle order”.
In November 2020, the out-of-favour Malik had spoken out about his omission from Pakistan’s 35-member group to New Zealand, saying that he had “no idea” why he was left out, and that there had not been “any communication from them”.
– Unacquainted decision makers need to take a step back; Babar & chief selector need to call the shots. In my opinion we need an international white ball coach who understands cricket inside out & grooms our captain whilst giving clarity to our players for coming time…
— Shoaib Malik 🇵🇰 (@realshoaibmalik) April 23, 2021
…when your management relies on likes & dislikes especially when your cricket is just in surviving mode, then what else do expect as a nation?
On top of that when you don't let your captain take decisions this is bound to happen… #Cricket #Pakistan— Shoaib Malik 🇵🇰 (@realshoaibmalik) April 23, 2021
In his tweets on Friday, the 39-year-old Malik said that “Babar and the chief selector need to call the shots” when it comes to decision making, while also endorsing the idea of recruiting an “international white ball coach who understands cricket inside out & grooms our captain whilst giving clarity to our players for coming time”.
“When your management relies on likes & dislikes especially when your cricket is just in surviving mode, then what else do expect as a nation?”, Malik tweeted. “On top of that, when you don’t let your captain take decisions this is bound to happen.”
The third T20I between the two teams will be held on April 25.
