Ex-Pak greats fear ODI series loss in Lanka will hurt team's WC preparations

Former Pakistan cricket greats have said that they fear their national side's one-day defeat in Sri Lanka would hurt preparations for next year's World Cup, which is just five months away.

Pakistan were beaten by seven wickets in the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Saturday after being bowled for a mere 102, losing the three-match series 2-1. They also lost the preceding two-match Test series 2-0.

Ramiz Raja, who took the catch that won Pakistan the 1992 World Cup, criticised the squad's preparations for next year's tournament. He said that he does not think team's preparations for the tournament are in the right direction, the Dawn reported.

The former skipper said that they need to find new talent if they want to succeed, and added that it seems Pakistan's batsmen have forgotten how to stay at the wicket and no one has consistency in his performance.

Former captain Rashid Latif also said that the one-day defeat would hurt World Cup preparations. He said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) relied on old players for the last two years in their preparations for the World Cup and they simply don't trust young players, and that is the reason their performance graph is going down with every series.

Latif said that he feared Misbah-ul-Haq, appointed captain until the World Cup, would come under pressure. He said that he thinks Haq's future is in doubt.

Latif added that Haq did not perform in seven innings of the tour and his captaincy was defensive. Haq managed just 67 in two Tests and as many runs in three one-day matches.

Pakistan next play a Twenty20 International, two Tests and three ODIs against Australia in the United Arab Emirates in October, before taking on New Zealand in three Tests, five one-dayers and two T20s.

Another former Pakistan captain, Mohammad Yousuf, also criticised Haq's captaincy. He said that if the captaincy remained with Haq they cannot expect improvement in results.

Yousuf added that he thinks it is imperative they have all-rounder Shahid Afridi as captain.