Pakistan lost the first T20I match against Ireland. Ahead of his T20 World Cup in 2024, the Green Shirts have started a preparatory tournament. Babar Azam & Co. are on duty in Dublin for the three-match T20I series.
In the first T20I, Ireland chased down the 183-run target set by Pakistan in the penultimate ball of the run chase. Pakistan needs to win the remaining two matches of the series to clinch the bilateral series.
The Green Shirts’ European tour got off to a disastrous start. Pakistan lost the three-match T20I series 1-0 and former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja slammed the players for their poor performance.
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What did Ramiz Raja say about Pakistan’s loss to Ireland in the 1st T20I?
Ramiz Raja has slammed the Pakistan cricket team for losing to Ireland in the first T20I in Dublin. Mr Raja said any loss against Ireland was a defensible criminal act. Pakistan’s body language was weak and their combinations affected the chemistry of the team.
The former cricketer told reporters:
You can’t defend the loss against Ireland. Your body language looks weak, you made combinations that affected the team, Ramiz Raja criticized his team in the defeat against Ireland in Dublin.
Raja also criticized the change of captaincy from Babar Azam to Shaheen Afridi, saying it was having a negative impact on the team’s form. Pakistan are currently ranked seventh in the T20I team rankings a month before the T20I World Cup.
The team was doing well, but the captain was replaced and a new captain replaced the previous captain. In the year of the World Cup, the team fell to seventh place in the T20I rankings, and this is indicative of the current state of the team, said Raja, who heavily criticized the situation of the Pakistan cricket team ahead of the T20I World Cup.
Ramiz Raja: “I can’t defend the loss against Ireland. Our body language looked weak and we played some combinations that affected the team. The team was doing well, but the captain changed and then… A new captain replaced the previous one.”In the World Cup year, the team…
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) May 11, 2024
Read more: Babar Azam slams Pakistan’s weak approach in T20Is
What’s next for Pakistan?
Pakistan is currently playing a three-match T20I series in Ireland. After losing their first game in Dublin on Friday, the Greenshirts will now turn their focus to Sunday. The second match of the trifecta will be played at the Clontarf Cricket Club Ground in Dublin on 12 May.
Read more: Who will be Pakistan’s opening batsman in the 2024 T20I World Cup?
