Following a dismal T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, the (PCB) Pakistan cricket team is suffering the wrath of their supporters. After suffering defeats to USA rookies and fierce rivals India, the defending champions were unexpectedly eliminated in the opening round.
The players are receiving criticism for bringing their families along in addition to their lacklustre performances, as their troubled cricket body considered enacting a new defamation rule to address “unsubstantiated claims and reports.”
Reports state that the team hotel housed between 26 and 28 player families in addition to the about 34 players, officials, and support personnel that were a part of the Pakistani delegation in the United States. These included, in certain situations, their spouses, kids, parents, and even siblings.
Senior cricket players including Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Amir, and captain Babar Azam were among those who had family members with them, according to the article. Babar stayed at the team hotel with his brothers, mother, and father. He is not married.
“Obviously, players pay the additional costs associated with having families, but having family members nearby does hit the players’ focus,” the article cited a source as saying.
“At the team’s accommodation, some sixty rooms were reserved to accommodate the additional team members. According to the article, some players regularly went on family-friendly outings and had takeaway dinners.
For the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean, Mohd Amir hired a personal trainer.
Even though the Pakistani squad already had a foreign trainer, strength conditioning coach, physiotherapist, and doctor, it is interesting to add that veteran seamer Amir had brought his personal trainer to the major tournament at his own expense. According to reports, the board gave the left-arm speedster permission to work alone during one of the practice sessions, away from his teammates.
On less important trips or bilateral series, players often want their families to be with them. Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Atiq uz Zaman, who played one Test and three ODIs, said he could understand this. However, the former cricket player believes that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should not have permitted the families since it negatively affects the players’ ability to concentrate during a significant event like the World Cup.
“As the players required to concentrate on their cricket, no families should have been permitted during a World Cup. “A player’s focus and time are taken away from cricket when they have families with them,” Zaman was said by NDTV Sports.
Now that their next duty starts in November, the Men in Green enjoy a long break. They will travel to Australia to play three Twenty20 Internationals and as many Twenty20 matches.
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