Wahab Riaz makes shocking revelations behind Pakistan's T20 World Cup failure in report submitted to PCB

Former Pakistan pacer and current selector Wahab Riaz has admitted that Babar Azam's side were not good enough in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Wahab Riaz's comments come weeks after Pakistan's exit from the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA from the Group stages itself. Babar Azam and co. were expected to put up a solid performance in this edition after their impressive performances in the previous 2 editions in UAE (2021) and Australia (2022).

Story of Babar Azam's Pakistan's T20 WC 2024

During the 2021 edition, Pakistan remained only a step away from entering the T20 WC final as they lost to eventual champions Australia in the semis. In 2022 at the Land Down Under, Babar Azam's side went all the way to the final after losing their opening two Group matches against India and Zimbabwe.

The group stage story of Pakistan was very identical in the 2024 edition as well. They first lost to co-hosts USA in Super Overs before losing to arch-rivals and 2024 finalists India by just 5 runs in what was the first-ever Indo-Pak match in New York. In 2022, they had luck by their side and that's why they reached the final stages.

But this time around, Pakistan did not even have a pinch of luck with them. Losses to USA and India and the co-hosts' abandoned match against Ireland was enough to see Babar Azam and co. head out of the tournament prematurely. After their exit, plenty of questions were raised about the cricketing ability of the team as well as the underlying issues within the management.

The likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Hafeez, and Ahmed Shehzad among others all came together to call for a change within Pakistan cricket. Akram was the one who bashed Babar Azam and his Men in Blue severely, claiming that they have let the entire nation down and admitted that it's time for new talents to take center stage.

Wasim Akram was extremely vocal that the PCB is not doing a good job by handing recalls to retired players. He was also critical about the board going back to appoint Babar Azam as the captain just a few months after appointing Shaheen Afridi in that role.

As part of the aftermath of Pakistan's pre-mature exit from the T20 WC 2024, some changes, if not drastic, are expected to take place. The shake-up in the team might also see a few players seeing themselves out of the National team set-up and it all depends on what head coach Gary Kirsten does with the white-ball team and Jason Gillespie does with the Test team.

Wahab Riaz makes a statement

Meanwhile, it's been weeks since Pakistan's exit, and their selector Wahab Riaz submitted a report to PCB in which he mentioned lack of coordination and team spirit led to the team's debacle in the T20 World Cup, as per Cricket Pakistan. The report, which PCB is currently reviewing, also highlighted several factors behind the team's early exit. Riaz also made recommendation to improve things in Pakistan cricket.

Riaz admitted that the National side did not display the required amount of skills to play cricket at the prestigious event. "Team Pakistan did not exhibit the necessary level of skilled cricket expected at such a prestigious event," Wahab Riaz said.