Pakistan’s disastrous ICC Women’s T20 World campaign has reportedly been marred by internal strife and a tense atmosphere within the squad, with media reports of alleged friction between the players and the team management.According to reports in the Pakistani media and discussions on social media, disagreements have emerged within the camp following a string of poor results. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has neither confirmed nor denied the reports.Pakistan slumped to their fourth straight defeat in the tournament after suffering a crushing 113-run defeat by Australia at Headingley in Leeds on Tuesday. The team is yet to register a win since arriving in Ireland ahead of the World Cup and also went winless during the tri-series involving Ireland and the West Indies before the tournament.According to news agency PTI, reports claim that there was a major disagreement between the team’s mentor and the unofficial head coach Wahab Riaz and captain Fatima Sana regarding the issue of selection. One report said that before the Bangladesh match, Sana objected to senior player Aaliya Riaz’s husband staying in her hotel room, leading to him being called away on holiday.“On Sana’s insistence, Ali Younis was asked to vacate the room. Then, the day before the match against Bangladesh, Aaliya and her husband went sightseeing when the team was scheduled to practice,” read one report.The same reports further claimed that Sana wanted Aaliya to be dropped for Bangladesh but Wahab insisted on her selection. After the defeat, Sana reportedly blamed Wahab for not enforcing disciplinary standards.
Fatima Sana admits Pakistan played ‘worst cricket’
Amid off-field speculation, captain Fatima Sana has candidly admitted her side’s woes after their heavy loss to Australia.“I think we just played our worst cricket in this game, and as a whole team we have to accept that. “We have to go back, think and improve,” Sana said after the match.Despite the disappointing campaign, Sana found Pakistan’s pre-tournament preparations to be encouraging.“Personally, I think we had a lot of good training before we came here, but we still need a response from the team. That’s what we need now. Otherwise, we had really good training and preparation,” she said.The skipper also praised the bowling unit, especially the spinners Nashra Sandhu and Sadia Iqbal.“I think our bowling was really good, especially the way we started. Nashra and Sadia bowled really well, which was great. We just need more players to back them up because we struggled in other areas. We have good players and they can play, but we need more input from everyone,” she said.Pakistan, who also finished bottom of the order in last year’s 50-over World Cup, will now look to salvage some pride when they face the Netherlands in their final Group A match.
