Pakistan coach blames captain and Manager for the miserable defeat in Women’s World Cup

The Pakistan Women’s team of had a terrible time in the recently concluded Women’s World Cup in England. They failed to win a single game in the mega event and finished last in the points table. Coach Sabah Azhar blamed captain Sana Mir and Manager Ayesha Azhar for the team’s miserable performance in the World Cup.

As per the reports, Azhar was not satisfied with the skipper’s approach in the big tournament. He stated that there were many negative decisions taken by the skipper. The senior players have been accused of being harsh and criticizing the youngsters which has adversely affected the team.

“My humble view is if the set of these four – three players and manager – continue with the national team, there’s absolutely no chance of players’ growth in the team. Juniors need confidence of the seniors, but if they are always criticised and face negative remarks, it would shake their confidence very badly and we should forget growth of women’s cricket in Pakistan,” Azhar as quoted by Hindustan Times.

“The captain was so much negative in her approach that she inculcated fear among other team members during team meetings on number of occasions. She used to praise opponent players a lot instead of backing her own players to do well,” stated a report.

Sana only thinks about herself

The coach stated that the skipper is a self-centered woman who does not care about the team or the nation. “It became clear that the captain Sana Mir is self-centered or self-absorbed; typically she is the last to know it. Her denial to accept self-centredness overshadows her good qualities of confidence and esteem. Too many of our so-called role models, don’t give a hoot about anything except themselves.”

“To them, the ‘team’ is nowhere near as important as the ‘me’. ‘What’s in it for me? I want more playing time. I should be starting instead of them! My average, My stats, My salary, etc.’ Similarly, Sana Mir’s ‘me-whining’ affected the mindset of aspiring young players to understand how important teamwork really is to success and any team game is not about ‘me’, it’s about ‘we’” Azhar further added.

Confidence of batters damaged

Skipper Sana Mir is an experienced campaigner for the Pakistan team, since making her debut in 2005. She has led the side in 72 games, but still, the all-rounder couldn’t even guide her team to a single win in the recently concluded World Cup.

“Eventually, the captain’s negative approach did damage the confidence of our batters and bowlers and they couldn’t play their natural game during matches. Similarly, the captain selfishly used to bowl herself at such a time during the match when she knew that the batters won’t go after the bowling and her bowling figures won’t be destroyed. She had a jealousy factor in her mind that what will happen if the other bowler takes a wicket or two and gets an extended spell of bowling,” concluded Azhar.

Earlier, the Pakistan Women’s team progressed to the World Cup via Qualifiers where they finished fourth in the Super Six Stage. Leading into the WWC they were whitewashed at the hands of New Zealand, England and West Indies in the last ODI series. They also changed their coach in order to turn their fortunes around as former pacer Sabah Azhar was appointed the coach.