No need to press panic button: Sarfraz Ahmed post Asia Cup debacle

After Pakistan's Asia Cup debacle, skipper Sarfraz Ahmed has assured of making required changes in the team while adding that there is no need to press the panic button.

The 31-year-old further stated that their disappointing performance in the prestigious tournament has set off an alarm bell for his captaincy as well, but admitted that they need to retrospect, collectively.

"Changes will happen but I don't think we need to press the panic button. I accept the mistakes we've done as a team. We have to back these guys. Of course, we will have to look at which players are best suited to which positions and whether there are players outside the team who can play a role," the Express Tribune quoted Ahmed, as saying.

"This kind of performance set off alarm bells for me as a captain and for the team overall. We will have to sit down and see what went wrong and try to fix things," he added.

Speaking about the team's overall performance, the wicketkeeper-batsman said that a lot of the star performers did not perform well in the tournament, adding that lack of experience in the side was another major reason behind their ouster.

"Fakhar is a regular for a year now, but he didn't perform in this tournament. Imamul Haq performed well, but players like Babar Azam, Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan didn't live up to the expectations. These are all young players, we have to back them as we will have to go forward with them. We'll also have to look at those on the bench and give them chances accordingly as well," Ahmed said.

"Lack of experience also played its part. Since I became captain in 2017, there were no senior players in the team besides Muhammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. Hafeez was in the squad for the last series but we couldn't find a spot for him in the playing XI, whereas Malik is still here with us," he added.

Reflecting on his own performance in the tournament, Ahmed admitted that he did not perform up to the mark.

"I accept that my performance was not up to the mark as well. I should have performed well as a captain but I didn't and due to that, I believe the team lost," he said.

Pakistan had slumped to a thumping 37-run debacle at the hands of Bangladesh in their Super Four clash to bow out of the prestigious 2018 Asia Cup.