All out for 55 vs India, coach Wahab Riaz bizarrely claims Pakistan as 'Best Team in Asia Cup'
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "All out for 55 vs India, coach Wahab Riaz bizarrely claims Pakistan as 'Best Team in Asia Cup'")
All out for 55 vs India, Wahab Riaz claims Pakistan as 'Best Team in Asia Cup' Photograph: (Others)
Wahab Riaz raised eyebrows after declaring Pakistan the 'best team' in the Women's Asia Cup, despite being skittled for 55 against India. Read his reaction and response to Sana Mir.
Pakistan women’s team coach and mentor Wahab Riaz made a bizarre statement following his side’s seven-wicket defeat at the hands of India in the recently contested Asia Cup clash in Dubai. Batting first after winning the toss, Pakistan’s women’s cricket team was skittled out for just 55 – their lowest-ever T20I score before their arch-rivals completed the run chase to finish at the top of their group. Pakistan were 27 for no loss before losing all 10 wickets for just 28 runs to register an unwanted record. Despite this thrashing, Wahab said his team is the ‘best in this Asia Cup’, raising eyebrows.
The team mentor said his team has skillful players and just needs to trust itself after this humiliation. With Pakistan needing one more win to qualify for the semifinals, their last group game against Hong Kong should help them.
Addressing the media following a shocking loss, Wahab said, "I believe that all the players in our team are very skillful, and they just need to trust themselves. Our next match is against Hong Kong. We will go back and discuss what we did wrong against India. We will try not to commit the same mistakes. I still believe Pakistan is the best side in this Asia Cup to lift the trophy because the conditions really suit us.”
‘I Have Nothing to Do With That Opinion’
On the other hand, former captain Sana Mir had different views on the result. Sana slammed the management for making more than half a dozen changes to the squad for this competition, with as many as seven players being left out.
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When asked about her comments, Wahab said, "Sana Mir has her own opinion. I have nothing to do with that opinion. We have made changes with the future in mind. The players who were playing before, they have played a lot of World Cups and Asia Cups, but we weren't getting the results. So, it was time to go with new faces and bring new girls into the mix to build the team for the upcoming tournaments.
"It is not about who we left behind. We have to look at the reality. The girls who were left out weren't performing at all. I think we did the right move by bringing new girls into the mix," he asserted.
Meanwhile, India had already punched their semifinal ticket and will face the second-ranked team from Group B in their last four match. Should Pakistan win their league game against Hong Kong and later beat their semifinal opponent, they could again come up against their arch-rivals in the Women’s Asia Cup final next Sunday (Sep 13).
