It’s time for major surgery in national cricket squad: Mohsin Naqvi
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LAHORE: (Web Desk) In his reaction to Pakistan’s defeat to India in a T20 World Cup match, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi said the time has come for a major surgery in the national cricket squad.

Mohsin Naqvi said he knows what is going on between members of the Pakistan cricket team, adding the nation will witness major changes in the team.

He said it is the time to give new players a chance to show their talent, adding he has to prepare the team for the upcoming Champions Trophy and make it one of the best in the world.

While terming the national team’s defeat to India extremely disappointing, he said: “Never has the performance of our team been as poor as it is right now. The nation did not expect their team to perform so poorly.”

It is to be noted here that India beat Pakistan by six runs in a low-scoring but tense T20 World Cup Group A encounter on Sunday (June 9) at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium where more than 34,000 fans were in attendance at the temporary arena despite the early rain.

The result moved India to the top of Group A with two wins from their opening two matches while Pakistan have zero points from two defeats following their upset by the hosts, the United States.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first on a two-paced pitch where rain interruptions made things difficult for India who struggled to get going and were dismissed for 119.

In response, Mohammad Rizwan laid the platform for the chase with a patient knock of 31 but Pakistan fell short after losing wickets at regular intervals while India’s Jasprit Bumrah (3-14) made crucial breakthroughs and bowled 15 dot balls.

"We felt that we were a little under par and when the sun came out, the wicket did get a little better," player of the match Bumrah said.

"So we had to be really disciplined with what we were trying to do and we are very happy with the win."

After the defeat from India in the T20 World Cup nailbiter, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said, “Our batting lineup failed badly against India.”

He said the batsmen played too many dot balls which led to the defeat, adding the pitch was good but the ball was not hitting the bat as expected.

While speaking after the Pak-India match, Babar Azam said India’s bowling was excellent in the last 10 overs.

“Our strategy for the match was to score 5 to 6 runs in each over, but due to playing too many dot balls, the team came under pressure and lost three wickets one after another which proved to be the turning point of the match,” he said.

“The pitch was very helpful in today’s match. The ball was coming to the bat quite slowly, but our batsmen could not take advantage of it,” he added.

“We didn’t play well in the powerplay. Our plan was to score 45 runs in the powerplay,” he said.