Pakistan left-arm bowler Salman Mirza said on Friday that it was really “shameful” for the supporters to target the family of captain Salman Ali Agha following the team’s dismal performance in the current T20 World Cup.
With just 60 runs from six games, Agha has struggled with the bat, and his leadership skills have come under increasing scrutiny.
Mirza, however, stood up for his captain.
“…. any such act which targets the player’s family is a very shameful thing. Because the player always wants to do good in the ground. If he doesn’t perform well on any given day, that doesn’t mean you should target their families. And I don’t think this should happen at all,” PTI quoted Mirza as saying ahead of Pakistan’s crucial Super Eights match against Sri Lanka.
After New Zealand’s defeat against England, Pakistan must defeat Sri Lanka by 64 runs or chase in about 13.1 overs to get to the semi-finals.
Mirza, who was speaking before the England-New Zealand clash, is focusing on the positives and stated that his team’s primary goal was to defeat Sri Lanka and finish the tournament on a high note.
“Yes, absolutely. There is enough capability in Pakistan that they not only reach the semi-final but also do very well. And as you said, it is hanging by a thread – now that is not in our control. We are just watching our match and hopefully will do well in that,” he said.
“… Regardless of today’s game or tomorrow’s game, we can’t control it and we are just focusing on our game and we will try to do best in that.
“As a player you always want to do well and you always evaluate yourself whether you are doing well or not. As a player – we try to give our best for the team and we try to do that. But whether it happens or not, that’s not in our control.”
Rene Ferdinands, the bowling coach for Sri Lanka, stated that the co-hosts suffered a significant setback when they lost all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga early in the competition.
In their opening encounter against Ireland on February 8, Hasaranga suffered a serious left hamstring strain, which forced him to miss the rest of the T20 World Cup.
“Well clearly if you have a player of high profile like that (Hasaranga) who is a world class performer, any team that uses a world class performer is going to have challenges restoring the balance of the team.
“And so we are in the same boat. I mean that was clear. So we have done our best and we have good replacements. And yeah, of course, that’s a challenge. And you never get two Wanindu Hasaranga is one. So that’s expected,” he said ahead of their inconsequential match against Pakistan.
Although Sri Lanka’s campaign may have already ended, Ferdinands stated that they want to finish on a positive note.
“It’s like any match, we want to try to win it. We know that Pakistan is a good opposition, we respect them, but in every sense we want to try to win. There’s never been any other question So we’re always looking to bounce back and we’re preparing in that vein,” he said.
According to Ferdinands, things specifically didn’t go as planned for them.
“So generally like that, we are talking about adhering to processes and things like that. And in general terms, if we have a process and there are conditions that are different, and it did not exactly go to plan, but that is the nature of professional cricket, You have your professional processes and you try to adhere to them,” he said.
