Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that he will fix the Pakistan cricket team after the side was unable to reach the semifinals of the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2019, report agencies. The Sarfaraz Ahmed-led team had an extremely inconsistent run in the competition and were fifth in the table with 11 points. They were tied with eventual runners-up New Zealand but missed out on the knockout spot due to inferior net run rate.
“I went to England where I learned to play cricket. When we returned from there we raised the standard of other players. After the World Cup I have decided that I will fix the Pakistan cricket team,” Prime Minister Imran Khan told a packed arena of overseas Pakistanis.
“The team you see in the next world cup, remember my words that team will be a professional team. We will fix the system and bring one in which the best talent comes forward,” he added.
Pakistan could have separate captains and head coaches for Test and limited overs cricket following its failure to qualify for the World Cup semifinals in England.
A well-placed source in the Pakistan Cricket Board told PTI that when the Cricket Committee meets later this month, a proposal to split the captaincy and coaching for the different formats would be up for discussion.
“Since Pakistan has to play eight Tests of the World Test Championship against Sri Lanka, Australia, Bangladesh and England before the T20 World Cup in Australia next year, the PCB is pretty concerned about how to improve performance of the team in Tests,” the source said. Pakistan will be playing only three ODIs but nine to 10 T20s before the T20 Asia Cup and T20 World Cup next year, prompting PCB to consider separate captains and coaches for red and white-ball cricket,” he said.