Whatmore says Pak 'hasn't turned into bad team overnight' despite 'miserable' CT exit

Pakistan's head coach Dav Whatmore refused to criticise the team's batting department after their miserable exit from the ICC Champions Trophy with a eight-wicket thrashing by India, saying that a team does not turn bad overnight.

According to The Dawn, India put already-eliminated Pakistan out of its misery in the Champions Trophy by thrashing its fierce rival in a rain-hit match on Saturday, clinching a third straight win for the tournament favorite.

The report further said that Pakistan will return home with three successive losses from a miserable Group B campaign in which its malfunctioning batting lineup failed to pass 200, hurting the pride of Pakistan's players and fans.

However, Whatmore defended the team's batsmen, saying that although they have not been able to score enough runs and have been losing wickets in clusters, loss in one series does not make a team bad given that they are almost the same team that beat India 2-1 in Indian conditions.

Insisting that he will not be making wholesale changes, Whatmore further said that there are times when a team plays bad games, adding that Pakistan was unfortunate to have played three such games in a row.

Mentioning Pakistan's malfunctioning batting lineup that failed to pass 200 in the tournament, Whatmore said that the batsmen were not able to achieve success despite trying hard, adding that even though it is easy to be critical on the surface, it is more necessary to be objective and improve things.

Hinting that the fate of the team with the 2015 World Cup in even tougher conditions in Australia and New Zealand lies in the hands of the Pakistan Cricket Board selectors, the coach, however said that the selectors will be looking for a team with the World Cup in mind, given that domestic games are quite strong in the country.