Karachi: Pakistan’s humiliating defeat to India in a World Cup game in England was due to feud among players and their unhappiness with captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, local media reported on Monday.
A defeat to arch-rivals India is always difficult to digest for the passionate Pakistani cricket community anywhere in the world and particularly when it is in a World Cup. A day after the defeat in Manchester, the media here ran stories about groupings in the team and how some players wanted to topple the captain.
The Samaa news channel reported that soon after he got out, Sarfaraz allegedly lost his cool in the dressing room and accused some players, including Imad Wasim and Imam-ul-Haq, of forming a group against him and not supporting him.
The Duniya news channel did a similar report about how there were groups in the team — one led by Moha-mmad Aamir and another led by Imad — which were letting Sarfaraz down.
After the defeat to Australia, a well-known actor and cricket fan had released a voice message on the social media where he blamed Shoaib Malik, Imad, Inam and Babar among others of forming a group against Sarfaraz which had led to problems in the team.
Some newspapers on Monday also hinted at internal problems within the team. But when contacted, two players in the Pakistan team denied any groupings but confirmed that Sarfaraz returned to the dressing room very angry and let go at some players.
“But it was more out of frustration and I don’t recall him blaming anyone or talking about groupings in the team but he did say the players needed to give more,” the player said on condition of anonymity.
Some former players have also hinted at problems in the team but former captain Moin Khan said it was the duty of the Pakistan Cricket Board to back its management. “It is normal in our country that when the team is not doing well in a major event or otherwise there is always talk about problems in the dressing room,” he said.
