LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Zaka Ashraf has demanded a report from the U-19 team’s manager and coach to explain the reasons behind the team’s debacle in ICC Under 19 World Cup 2012, it has been learnt.
The manager and coach will submit their reports within couple of days, the source revealed.
Fresh from a 2-1 victory in a Youth ODI Series against Australia, arranged from the preparations of the ICC Under-19 World Cup to be held in Australia, in July/August, the Pakistan U-19 team went into the World T20 with high hopes and expectations.
However, they were unable to make it to the tournament semi-finals – a defeat which PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf admitted had been fairly disappointing. “Yes, definitely the team went with great expectations but the results didn't match those expectations,” said Ashraf.
On the other hand, Pakistan team manager Haroon Rashid while facing media upon his arrival at the airport admitted that they had selected best available players for the World Cup as Pakistan five batsmen were showing good performance for the last one year. But unfortunately, they failed to come up to the expectations and failed miserably during the world mega event that spoiled Pakistan chances of making to the semi-finals, he added. He said that Pakistan nearly snatched the victory from the jaws of defeat but unfortunately they lost match closely by one wicket against arch-rivals India. The bowlers did their job but Pakistani batsmen let them down during the mega event, Haroon added. Haroon also apologized from the nation over this defeat and Pakistan team’s poor show in the tournament. “The team came under heavy pressure and did not recover from the defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India and lost remaining playoff matches against West Indies U-19s and Bangladesh U-19s,” Haroon concluded.
A source confirmed that the team coach’s habit of regularly posting team pictures and updates on social media website had been noted by the board, which was concerned this activity may have distracted him from his coaching responsibilities. “The question is that if a coach is busy focusing on uploading the activities of the team on a social networking site also affected his commitment to the team preparations,” said the source. The Pakistan U-19s though got off to flying start in the World Cup and their performances appeared promising in the initial stages of the tournament but they failed to maintain the momentum and collapsed badly after the defeat at the hands of Indians .
They secured a comprehensive 109-run victory against Afghanistan U-19s in the tournament opener with good performances from the skipper Babar Azam and fast bowler Ziaul Haq while defeated Scotland by nine wickets and in the final Group B match, they registered five wickets win against the Black Caps. However, the team failed to continue the momentum during their quarter-finals against India U-19s, who stunned Azam’s men in a narrow one-wicket victory that completed the ouster of Pakistan from the competition.
Pakistan grabbed eighth position in the history of Under-19 tournament as early their lowest position was fourth.