Sarfraz Nawaz chides Pak team, management post Aussie drubbing

Former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has lashed out at the Pakistan cricket team as well as management for yielding humiliating defeats in the recent Test and ODI series against Australia.

Describing Pakistan's recent dip in form as 'alarming', Nawaz defined poor fielding and running between the wickets as the main reasons behind the losses before also questioning the performance of the coach and the selection committee.

"Poor fielding and running between the wickets are main reasons behind the defeats, while performance of coach, selection committee and players are also highly questionable," the Dawn quoted Nawaz as saying.

While questioning the performance of coach Mickey Arthur, Nawaz asked as to why foreign coach was opted over the several greats of Pakistan cricket.

"What results has [the coach] produced during New Zealand and Australia tours?...I fail to understand why the team management opted for foreign coach since we have several greats of Pakistan cricket. Why are their expertise not utilized?," he questioned while adding that for better results, the team management will now have to opt for a domestic coach who could properly guide players in native language and could easily identify the talent in domestic circuit.

The visitors slumped to a three-match Test series whitewash against Australia before going down 1-4 in the ODI series. And the 68-year-old former cricketer believes ODI skipper Azhar Ali failed to utilise his players properly, especially referring to fast bowler Rahat Ali.

"During the one-day series, Australia made several changes, but we [Pakistan] didn't give chance to fast bowler Rahat Ali even in a single match and kept relaying on Mohammad Amir - who has been failed to deliver," Nawaz insisted.

"During first four one-dayers, Azhar depended on three fast bowlers, and in the last one he came up with four fast bowlers only to face a mountain 370-run target," he added.

Echoing similar views for Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Nawaz said that the former failed miserably as a skipper, while insisting that it is high time that he should resign from the post.

"Misbah badly failed as a player and captain. He made only 76 runs in three Tests. What can I say on these scores? This performance is a matter of concern, he [Misbah] should have announced his resignation before the start of third Test, but still he is sticking," he said.

Pakistan will travel to West Indies for two T20s, three ODIs and three Tests beginning March 31 at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain.