Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan spoke to the media in Peshawar to address the team’s early exit from the T20 World Cup in the Americas. Pakistan crashed out of the T20 World Cup in the group stage after losing to tournament hosts and debutants USA, as well as arch-rivals India. The players have been heavily criticised, with some former players demanding that the entire team should be sacked. There have also been rumours of groupism within the team, which has had a negative impact on the dressing room environment.

While Rizwan admitted that while the criticism from the fans is justified, he rubbished the rumours of politics and groupism within the team, labelling it as ‘outside chatter’. 

“People are saying that there’s some politics within the team, and there are some differences. If there were any differences, we have also lost games before. This is just outside chatter. This same team has played finals, semi-finals, but it is true that we haven’t won a trophy,” Rizwan said during a press conference in Peshawar.

“The criticism the team is facing is justified, and we deserve this since we didn’t meet expectations. Players who can’t face criticism won’t be able to succeed. We are disappointed with our performance in the T20 World Cup. There are multiple reasons behind our losses. When a team loses, one can’t say that bowling and batting is doing well,” he added.

According to a report, the biggest challenge before Babar Azam on his comeback as captain was to unite the team but he could not do so because of the groupings. 

Shaheen Afridi was upset at losing the captaincy and Babar not supporting him when required while Mohammad Rizwan was unhappy at not being considered for the captaincy.

However, several reliable sources have also confirmed that PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi will not be making an immediate call on Babar Azam’s captaincy since Pakistan now plays its next white ball series in November.

(With PTI Inputs)