Pakistan assistant coach Azhar Mehmood hit back at questions over the side’s activities off the field at the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in the USA when quizzed about the team heading out and out for shopping and dinners.
Pakistan have last two of their Group A games, to USA and India, and are slated to face off against Canada and Ireland in pursuit of their slim qualification chances.
A journalist asked Mehmood for a justification for the players’ whereabouts off the field despite the national team experiencing a horrendous campaign at the ICC extravaganza.
“One minute. Did you see the match day? Brother, cricket is played on the ground. There is life beyond cricket,” Mehmood addressed the reporter.
“You were there. I saw you there too,” he continued.
Mehmood acknowledged the pain in defeat, however, added that there is more to life off the cricket pitch. And it was normal for players to seek to get their mind off the matters of the field.
“The thing is, we are a very emotional nation. I mean, it’s not possible that if you lose a match, your life will be over,” the 49-year-old explained.
“If you lose a match and then you come to the room and bang the walls of the room, then you need a little time to relax your mind,”
“Now, obviously, our players are not like that. I’ve been with English teams, too. If they go to a place like that, you can only go to eat, that’s our entertainment,” he defended the unit.
He asserted that such question about players heading out to eat wouldn’t have arisen had they not been going through a steak of losses.
“Now tell me, who’s not following a diet plan? All the teams in the world do it. There’s no such thing. When we lose, we feel that we are not following this, we are not following that,
” If we had won, you wouldn’t be asking me this question,” he asserted.
Pakistan take on Canada on the 11th of June before playing Ireland on the 16th of the same month to close out their group stage assignments.
Stay updated with the latest from T20 World Cup 2024. Explore T20 World Cup Match Today. Check Updated list of Highest-run getters and Highest Wicket-Takers In T20 World Cup 2024. Check T20 World Cup 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes, Most Fours , Most Fifties And Most HundredsIn T20 World Cup 2024.
Comments
0 comment