Sunil Gavaskar laid the blame on Pakistan’s support staff for not backing their team when down, as a reason why the team has suffered back-to-back defeats at the T20 World Cup currently being held in Australia.
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Pakistan suffered a last-ball loss to India – a loss that could demoralise any team. That loss, against a team considered as the favourites to reach the semi-finals, was followed by a shock result against Zimbabwe.
Chasing 131 at Perth, the Pakistan batting collapsed. At one point, all that they required was 43 runs of 39 deliveries with seven wickets in hand. And then disaster struck. A batting collapse saw them lose against Zimbabwe by a solitary run. Gavaskar termed that result as a lack of encouragement by the team management on the players – one that led to an immediate collapse after a demoralising last-gasp loss to India.
“Kabhi kabhi waise demoralising hota hai. Aap apne aap ko lift nahi kar sakte. Lift karne ke liye apke jo management hai woh waise chaiye jo aapko bol sake ki haa ho gaya but aapke paas woh qabiliyat hai,” said Gavaskar to India Today (Sometimes it can be demoralising. But to lift yourself up you sometimes need a management who can tell you that whatever happened, happened but in no way does that mean that you don’t have the talent.)
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“Yehi pe do saal pehle, India Adelaide main 36 all-out ho gayi thi. Kohli wapas chale gaye the. Ajinkya Rahane captain the. Jis tarike se Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun, Ajinkya Rahane, Vikram Rathour, Sridhar, unhone team ko sambhala aur confidence diya. Aur maine dekha hai ki jab Kohli nahi rehta hai toh baki ke players sochte hai ki kaise uski jagah ko compensate karein. Waisa agar Pakistan ke paas hota, waisa support staff jo team ko bol sakta hai ki chalo…abhi bhi ho sakta hai,” added Gavaskar. (Two years back in Australia, India were folded for 36 in a Test match in Adelaide. Virat Kohli had returned home after that game. But the way the team was handled by Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun, Ajinkya Rahane, Vikram Rathour, Sridhar, who instilled that belief. Pakistan need that kind of support and they still can turn things around),” he said.
Pakistan play today against Netherlands with a win the least they can do to keep their hopes alive in the tournament.
