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“As a team, we didn’t do well”
Following their failure to reach the semi-finals of the World Twenty20, Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has issued an apology to the “people of Pakistan”.
Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament following an embarrassing 84-run loss to the West Indies.
“After a loss, such things come up,” Hafeez said. “But you have to keep in mind that no team wins because of any one individual or loses because of any one individual. It was a good display overall, but in this match, we didn’t play well. We take collective responsibility. It’s not one person’s responsibility. The entire management, all the players, are equally responsible.
“The management has worked hard with the players. All the plans, they were able to reach the players, gave us all the practice. At the end of the day, the players have to deliver, they have to execute the plans. In this tournament, especially in this match, if the execution wasn’t good, then the responsibility lies with the players, not the management. But as a team, we didn’t do well. All of us have to accept it.
“I apologise to the people of Pakistan as captain and on behalf of the team that we couldn’t live up to their expectations. But these things happen in cricket. You are the same person who plays good and bad cricket. But it is important that you take the good things going forward and maintain that.”
Hafeez was also ashamed of his performance as he only scored 55 runs in four innings at a strike-rate of 72.36.
“From the last one and a half years, I have been doing this for the team, playing at No. 3 because the management want me to do this and I have been doing very well at this,” he said. “Unfortunately, in this tournament, I couldn’t get the runs I wanted to. It happens sometimes in cricket – you try your level best but things don’t work for you. This is one such tournament. I am disappointed with my own form, I couldn’t score runs for the team. You have to accept it, you have to move forward from here.”
When asked if the players who had failed to perform well would be dropped, Hafeez said: “Good and bad, you must take them together and look to the future. The selectors will look at it, they will see who are the players that need to be replaced. That is their job. The team is selected by the selection committee, but the responsibility is not any one individual’s. If the players haven’t played well, then they must take the responsibility.”
However, Hafeez admitted that wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and all-rounder Shoaib Malik had failed to live up to everyone’s expectations.
“They will also be sad,” Hafeez said. “The selectors have trusted and picked them for a big tournament like this. But they didn’t live up to those expectations. They are good players, they have played well for Pakistan but you are right, in this tournament there were not good performances from them. But Kamran’s keeping is a positive. He has kept well, there have always been question marks over his keeping. Unfortunately, as an opener, he didn’t bat as well. As for Shoaib Malik, he is a senior player, both haven’t done very well.”