'Iss se achha toh vo mote players khila lo': Saeed Ajmal calls Pakistan 'bachho ki team' after poor show vs Eng

Pakistan men’s cricket team suffered a shock 3-4 defeat at home against England in a seven-match T20I series last week. The hosts won the second, fourth, and fifth match to take an upper-hand at one point, but the visitors came up with an outstanding batting display in the final two matches to seal the deal. After chasing down the target of 170 runs in just 14.2 overs for the loss of two wickets in the penultimate game, the injury-hit English team, playing under the leadership of Moeen Ali, posted a total of 209 runs for the loss of three wickets in the series decider. The Men in Green never looked like they were in the chase and could only manage to score 142 runs for the loss of eight wickets in return.

One of the main reasons for Pakistan’s horror show in the recently concluded series was the poor show by their middle-order batters, who failed to deliver in any of the seven matches. The likes of Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, and Iftikhar Ahmed are under scanner for their below-par outings. They were ordinary with the bat in the Asia Cup as well, and the same show was on display in Karachi and Lahore too.

Slamming the team for their horror display at home, former spinner Saeed Ajmal attacked the middle-order batters and said that the selectors could instead look at unfit players who can bat well instead of the ones that are in the squad.

"They (England) completely outclassed us. Bilkul bachho ki team lag rahi thi Pakistan, itne bechaare lag rahe the. Itna maara hai inn logon ne. Jis tarah ke momentum se vo khelte hain, uss tarah se hamein bhi khelna chahiye. Aap logon ke andar itna khauf hai ki 'hamein select kiya jaayega ya nahi' (Pakistan were playing like kids. England really hit them all over the park. We need to play with the same intensity as them, but most of our cricketers play in fear over their spot in the XI)," Ajmal said on his official YouTube channel.

"Fear se aap khelenge toh aap fail honge. Fearless cricket khelenge toh kaamyaab honge. Ek match me achha kheloge aur 10 match bure khel jaate ho, pata nahi kaisi training kar rahe ho. Iss se achha toh vo unfit, mote-mote players khila lo, Sharjeel Khan ko khila lo, Azam Khan ko khila lo (If you play with fear, you will fail. You need to play fearless cricket. These guys play well in one match and then fail in 10. It's better if you play unfit, fat players instead. Sharjee, Azam can be given chances)."

According to the former great, Azam, who is the son of legendary stumper Moin Khan,can do a better job than Mohammad Haris, who is the second-choice wicketkeeper-batter in the squad.

"Aapne Haris ko rakh liya. Iss se sau guna behetar Azam Khan hai. Fearless cricket khelta hai, maarta toh hai kam se kam. Strike rate toh hai uska (You selected Haris but Azam has a hundred times better. He plays fearless cricket, he at least plays aggressively)," Ajmal added.

After the conclusion of their home assignment, Pakistan will now travel to New Zealand for a triangular series against the hosts and Asian rivals Bangladesh. And after that, they will reach Australia to take part in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.