Former Australian batsman Usman Khawaja has once again targeted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). This time he reacted to the statement of Pakistan’s High Performance Director Aaqib Javed, in which he had expressed concern about the poor condition of the team. Pakistan has lost two consecutive matches in the Test series against England. After this, Aaqib had said that after seeing the performance of Pakistan, “the world is laughing at us.” Responding to an Instagram post related to this statement of Aaqib, Khawaja wrote, “Now the world is laughing more.”
The England tour has been very disappointing for the Pakistan team so far. In the first Test, England defeated Pakistan by an innings, while in the second Test it lost by 194 runs. With this victory, England took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. After two consecutive defeats, PCB has decided to make major changes in the team. The third Test is to be played in Edgbaston from 9th September and before that Pakistan has included many new faces in its team.
Big change in Pakistan team
PCB has dropped Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Aga, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shehzad from the touring team. Apart from this, five uncapped players like Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Junior, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Razaullah have been included in the team. Sam Ayub and Abdullah Fazal have also been included in the team. Both of them together have experience of only 10 test matches.
Aaqib raised questions on selection
PCB has also made changes in the coaching staff. Mike Hesson, associated with the white ball team, has been made the head coach and Ashley Noffke has been made the bowling coach. While defending these changes, Aaqib Javed raised questions on the team’s performance in the first two Tests. He said that the Pakistan team was not even successful in competing, whereas the management had options to make changes. He expressed the need for a bowler with more pace and variety in the fast bowling attack. Aaqib also questioned the decision to give continuous opportunities to Mohammad Rizwan as wicketkeeper. At the same time, PCB has also sought answers from the selectors regarding the selection of Rizwan and Imam in the team.