Pakistan had Extended Champions Trophy Hangover - Rashid Latif

The Pakistan cricket team is having a torrid time in Test cricket. The visitors were brought down to reality by a strong and impressive Proteas’ attack in the Test series. Meanwhile, former cricketer, Rashid Latif, on Thursday, thrashed selectors and the Pakistan team management for the lacklustre show. The side has been going strong in limited-overs cricket, but looked out of touch in whites.

Rashid Latif takes a dig at Pakistan team

According to Latif, the success in the Champions Trophy in 2017 kept the unit inside a bubble. He feels Pakistan couldn’t come out of the Champions Trophy victory and get stuck in the past.

“One of the main problems was the extended hangover of the 2017 Champions Trophy triumph. Captain, coaches, management, selection committee or the board, everybody was under the influence of the historic feat longer than required,” Dawn quoted Latif, as saying.

The side lost eight of their 13 Test matches post the Champions Trophy and managed to win four games in whites. The visitors suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss in the hands of South Africa, and experts feel Pakistan were unprepared for the challenges.

Unprepared Pakistan gets humiliated abroad

Latif also pointed out that the management have been carrying Usman Salahuddin and Saad Ali for some time now and the duo wasn’t being presented with proper opportunities. They got dropped ahead of the important tour, and it didn’t help matters much.

“Preparations were not up to the mark. In the first Test, Azhar Ali came to bat at number four, who never played at this slot. In the second innings of the second Test, Azhar was pulled back at number three while Fakhar Zaman batted at number six. This is the reflection of bad preparation and is indicative of the fact that Pakistan lacked middle-order batsmen on the challenging tour,” he added.