T20 World Cup: ‘It’s a relief that we don’t have a series against India, otherwise their B or C team would beat us’

While the Pakistan Cricket Board laments the absence of bilateral series against India, Akmal believed it was a small mercy given the gulf in class between the two sides.

“It’s a relief that we don’t have a series against India. We only face them in bilateral series, otherwise their B or C team would beat us,” he said. “Our team is nowhere near the level of the top five teams.”

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The so- called stalwarts of the team were understandably singled out for special treatment.

“Babar had a great chance to play a long innings today. He could have batted at a run a ball after three wickets went down early and taken the game deep,” Basit, a middle-order batsman from the 1990s, said on a TV show. “But he got out playing across the line to a left-arm spinner.”

He added that if Babar wanted to show “intent”, this was not how to do it.

Former Pakistan skipper Malik said the batsman, often considered the best the country has produced in this generation, didn’t take the percentage option.

“It’s always better to play a spinner with the full face of the bat, especially when the straighter boundaries are shorter,” he said referring to the R Premadasa Stadium in the Sri Lankan capital. “It’s even more so when the bowler in question (Axar Patel) is not known to turn the ball as much as other spinners.”

Basit lamented that in Pakistan, players are hyped up after performing against weaker opposition before they are found out against bigger teams. He said it was largely due to the lack of talent and structure at the domestic level.

“Babar has scored the most runs. But how many games has he won for the team?”

Referring to Shadab and Mohammad Nawaz, he said “waise to chhoti teamon ke aage 15 ball pe 30 run bana lete ho. Aaj karo na (you make 30 in 15 balls against smaller teams. Do that today).”

Basit, 19 Tests and 50 ODIs, took a swipe at the coaching staff as well, saying they had no experience of playing international cricket themselves.

“Why did you bring on your main weapon (spinner Usman Tariq) so late?” he said.

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The tweaker, who has been in the spotlight for his unique action and long pause before delivery, was called upon for the first time in the 11^th over. He took a wicket in his four overs conceding 24 runs, as the Indians could afford to play relatively risk-free cricket against Tariq after the blistering start provided by Ishan Kishan.

For the record, Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson took up coaching at the age of 22. He has been active in New Zealand domestic cricket and guided Kenya and his home country before taking up the role with Pakistan.

At the franchise level, he has coached Kings XI Punjab and been director of operations for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He guided Pakistan Super league franchise Islamabad United to the title in 2024.

The panelists looked back to the time when youngsters were handed debuts against lower-ranked teams such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to give them experience. But felt that now, performances against them were being made out to be bigger than they deserved to be.

“We used to groom players against such teams. I have played in some matches where the top players were rested and youngsters given a chance,” Akmal, a former wicketkeeper-batter said.

Skipper Salman Ali Agha also didn’t escape censure as Malik claimed he chose his own batting spot on the basis of where he is more comfortable, thereby destabilising the team rather than “facilitating the players”,  which he believed was the main job of the captain.