"In the 90s, Pakistan had the upper hand but now India's team is better" : Sarfaraz Ahmed

[Abdullah719]

Sarfaraz Ahmed at the post-match presser:

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"We're not winning World Cup matches against India, it's a pressure game and the team which handles the pressure wins and that's why India won today and also previous times"

"In the 90s, Pakistan had the upper hand but now India's team is better, that's why they won more matches"

"We won a good toss but we didn't capitalise on that. There was a bit of moisture in the pitch but we didn't hit the right areas and credit goes to Rohit for batting really well"

"I think going with 5 bowlers and 6 batters was the right decision"

"It's very disappointing, it's hurting. We were going well with the batting, after we lost the first wicket Babar and Fakhar had a good partnership. Our message was to stay at the wicket and make 4,6,7 an over but unfortunately we lost too many wickets and thus lost the match"

"Our whole team isn't performing well in all 3 departments, not just seniors. Batsmen today made a good start but we lost too many wickets"

"We have 4 matches remaining, OK we didn't play good cricket but our target is to play well and try to win the 4 games. I am hopeful we will bounce back in the last 4 matches"

"Players were putting their effort but we need to look at a few things, we had some lapses in the field, if we had availed some chances like getting Rohit run out then the position could have been different"

"This is the time for us to pick ourselves up and come back in the tournament"

"The boys are definitely 100% fit, only Imad had an issue but everyone passed the fitness test. Obviously when you lose then the team falls a bit mentally but we have 4 matches remaining and anything can happen, if we back ourselves then insha'Allah the results will be better"

"We won the toss and bowled, Virat Kohli wanted to do the same. We didn't see the pitch for 2 days and it had been raining yesterday all day so the pitch had some moisture, we also knew it might rain and DLS is important. If we didn't lose a wicket there and played for 15-20 mins more then the DLS target would have been lesser"

"We played 5 bowlers to make them bowl, if we needed the part-timers more then we would have used them as I did in the previous match. I tried something different today to try and get a wicket but the two batsmen were set so I didn't use them more. Regarding the dressing room, everyone backs each other. When the team loses then the morale is down but as a captain and as a team, we still have a chance if we back ourselves"

 

[Ronaldo7]

It was a bit sad to see Sarfaraz struggling while speaking in the post match presentation. If he doesn't feel comfortable speaking English then don't. Most French, Spanish people don't speak English. Ronaldo for a large portion of his career didn't know English.
It's alright

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Even though it’s true, you know things are bad when even your specialist captain admits that your team is bad

 

[JaDed]

Decision to bat second wasn’t wrong coz rain but somehow that decision doesn’t seem to work in England nowadays in pressure matches, issue also here is Babar and Fakhar were doing well surely DLS was close then.. but Kuldeep turned it around and Pandya got two in two balls..reminded me of Indian team 90s but Sachin was always near somewhere , which is where Babar is not reaching.. Babar has to take that responsibility coz there is no one..

 

[Technics 1210]

This is just cringworthy now. The decision to bowl first was wrong. Even before the toss, some ex players, including IK/SG/SRT were saying to bat first from a psychological and performance perspective - and to compensate the decision by saying India would have bowled first not only reeks of hollow cries, but proves Sarfraz cannot think outside the box.

 

[Bhaijaan]

I feeel for Sarfraz. He has looked horribly tense wherever I have seen him for like a long lone time.

For god sake get rid off the captaincy from his shoulders and induct a new captain.

 

[WengerOut]

Feel sad for him. But i don't consider Shadab and Imad proper bowlers. Only one of them should play and IMO it should've been Imad.

 

[Kroll]

When you win toss. Bat! How many matches does Pakistan win by chasing in pressure games?

 

[Deewana]

how i wish my interest in cricket dies overnight
can't with stand these shameless clowns

 

[AdamM97]

Should give up captaincy before he gets more depressed. I feel bad for him.

 

[aloo paratha]

I feeel for Sarfraz. He has looked horribly tense wherever I have seen him for like a long lone time.

For god sake get rid off the captaincy from his shoulders and induct a new captain.

I don't feel bad for him. Yes the team might not be great but neither is he.

 

[aloo paratha]

This is just cringworthy now. The decision to bowl first was wrong. Even before the toss, some ex players, including IK/SG/SRT were saying to bat first from a psychological and performance perspective - and to compensate the decision by saying India would have bowled first not only reeks of hollow cries, but proves Sarfraz cannot think outside the box.

Exactly. Chasing isn't tough in bilaterals, but World Cup pressure is different. Even if we had crawled our way to 270 the game would've been closer than it was bowling first.

 

[Mueez]

Cricket or life is harsh isn’t it.

From winning an ICC trophy to this.

One must feel for the lad but he himself is responsible for this.

However we need to support Sarfraz and the team for one last time, next match will be a do or die game.

 

[PakPremi]

Feel sad for him. But i don't consider Shadab and Imad proper bowlers. Only one of them should play and IMO it should've been Imad.

Shadab only bowled one bad over and that too against worlds best players of spin. Imad is not a wicket taking bowler we need to give shadab experience and play him regularly, dropping him against Australia meant he was short of match bowling practise .

 

[PakPremi]

We are losing simply because selections aren't done on merit and we have no discipline in batting, bowling fielding.

 

[sshakir411]

Should resign as captain after World Cup. He got his time and unfortunately he never improved. Don’t think a replacement exists but that’s not Sarfraz’s issue.

 

[adil79]

He should grow a spine and resign. Enough with excuses.

 

[CricketIsAwesome]

Didn't dude say that he has identified the chinks in the Indian team and was going to exploit those !!!. How old was he in the 90's.

One thing is for sure that alot of Pakistan fans are still holding on to the past and the Pakistan captain seems to be no different. No motivation from the Pakistan cricketing management and fraternity to work building a team for the future.

 

[Slog]

We are losing simply because selections aren't done on merit and we have no discipline in batting, bowling fielding.

Whatever combination of Pakistan team you play we will lose against India 4 out of 5 times

 

[Savak]

No guarantee Pakistan would have won batting first, our batting may have crumbled against Bhuvi and Bhumra, our bowlers failed to defend 340-350 against England. Our players are just not good enough

 

[Mkumar825]

Question in Press conferece: What advice would you give to Pakistan to come out of their crisis?

Rohit Sharma: I will definitely answer it if I become Pakistan's coach.

 

[Zaz]

Part of it is out of his hands When 2-3 of ur pace bowlers have suddenly all lost form what do you do??

However Hes got to take some responsibility himself
Hes brought it on himself sticking with the likes of malik and hafeez and backing the wrong horses

 

[PakLFC]

The gap in the 90's was no way near what it is today between the two countries. Sarfaraz trying to fool the fans it seems.

 

[Ronaldo7]

The gap in the 90's was no way near what it is today between the two countries. Sarfaraz trying to fool the fans it seems.

It really was. We were a lot better than them. It's just that we couldn't win pressure games.

 

[WengerOut]

The gap in the 90's was no way near what it is today between the two countries. Sarfaraz trying to fool the fans it seems.

Oh yes it was

 

[PakLFC]

It really was. We were a lot better than them. It's just that we couldn't win pressure games.

There bowling was a lot worse but batting was much better. Ind fielding was much better as well even then.

 

[Energy]

Played five bowlers and bowled first and got no wickets for 150 runs? What sort of a messed up logic is that? Didn't learn anything from the previous game.

 

[cricket_cfa]

He does not seem to not realize the mistakes we made

 

[chinaman00]

Part of it is out of his hands When 2-3 of ur pace bowlers have suddenly all lost form what do you do??

However Hes got to take some responsibility himself
Hes brought it on himself sticking with the likes of malik and hafeez and backing the wrong horses

Exactly. Choosing two spinners (when Pakistani spinners have only dismissed India’s top 4 batsmen only twice since 2011), an out of form bowler (Hassan) spent horse (Malik) and choosing to bowl on a high octane match are all Sarfaraz’s fault. He can’t blame this on anyone except himself. The only time Pakistan best India in recent memories was by batting first and forcing India to play against scorecard pressure. He’s not only inarticulate and confused, he’s even delusional.

 

[Usman Chadda]

He should give it up. This is enough. Felt sorry for him when he was fumbling through that post-match interview. He has lost all support and has zero authority on this team.

Also he needs to stop coming to pressers altogether. Ends up making an absolute fool out of himself.

 

[shaykh]

India is a much better team...so is the England team...

However the only chance Pakistan had today was batting first and setting a score...sides have struggled chasing...and that's where we lost it before the start...

With this pitiful bowling attack that we have there was no way we were going to chase a score down...

Our batting is actually decent...the top 3...and Hafeez can set a score...we have a tail that can bat...the only weak link batting wise is Malik...

Had to bat first...scoreboard pressure and Amir could offset the remaining dross...

 

[sjahmed23]

It really was. We were a lot better than them. It's just that we couldn't win pressure games.

How long are we going to reminicent about the 90s? For gods sake some of the cricketers in Pak team didn't even watch the 90s team play... This was a pathetic statement from a guy who is blanked out I think there is nothing going on his head he has no ideas left and is completely shot. If I were him I would sit out rest of the games and gracefully resign after the wc...

 

[Zaz]

The gap in the 90's was no way near what it is today between the two countries. Sarfaraz trying to fool the fans it seems.

On papar it was and in results to a point Unfortunately due to various things the pakistan team didnt win as much as they shouldve

 

[Hyperion66]

Question in Press conferece: What advice would you give to Pakistan to come out of their crisis?

Rohit Sharma: I will definitely answer it if I become Pakistan's coach.

Rohit is the new boss of press conference now, Kohli has become too generic and diplomatic with his answers for my liking.

 

[Destroyer88]

Honestly sarfaraz's post match conferences are very robotic. Resigned.to defeat and waiting to vatch the next plane home

 

[cririri]

Meh the famous street fighter,sarfi is a coward.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Wish someone would find that tape Junaid used and put it over Satfaz's mouth so we wouldn't have to listen to his verbal diarrhoea.

 

[Zaz]

Theres no excuse for not doing the basics right when it comes to team selections?

Why is malik and Hafeez playing and harris warming bench?

Why is there no proper spinner in the team?

why are we persisting with out of form bowlers and dropped shinwari the one bowler who was in half decent form?

If you pick players that arent good enough what do you expect

 

[PakLFC]

Honestly sarfaraz's post match conferences are very robotic. Resigned.to defeat and waiting to vatch the next plane home

They are identical to Inzi's when he was captain. Just repeating the same thing he may as well have it recorded.

 

[shockbound]

This is just cringworthy now. The decision to bowl first was wrong. Even before the toss, some ex players, including IK/SG/SRT were saying to bat first from a psychological and performance perspective - and to compensate the decision by saying India would have bowled first not only reeks of hollow cries, but proves Sarfraz cannot think outside the box.

It wouldn't have mattered they way we played. Short and wide balls were going to get pounded at any innings.

 

[ExplicitAI]

India were bowling some utter tripe out there and other teams could've dispatched those balls for boundaries whereas we're struggling to hit them. We have a solid top 3 in a world cup after a long time with a very good number 4 in Haris so why are we benching him? This match should mean that we do not play the likes of Malik anymore in the next games, we must win those to go to the semis. The team isn't bowling lengths that would trouble the opposition, they're not doing their homework against them like they did before; players like Malik and Wahab belong to the list of cricketers like Afridi, Misbah, Younis etc who have played against India a lot in recent times and ended up on the losing side due to consistent failures and not seeing the real picture in how to beat them. They're not an invincible juggernaut like they're made out to be, Pakistan is very capable of beating India in a world cup but they do not use the right tactics to beat them.

Recent Ind vs Pak games have been too similar (from 2015 WC and onwards), India bat first and see off bowlers like Amir and Imad, hit the odd bad ball for a boundary so they coast to 50/0 after 12 overs, then a couple big hits from Rohit propel the total higher, some Pak cricket misfields during the innings then later on we grab a wicket after a 150+ partnership. Then Kohli comes in for the finishing touches, then when all is doom and gloom with majority of Pak fans not watching the massacre, we save our faces a little by picking up wickets in scraps towards the death overs out of sheer desperation with a couple of lusty blows from the likes of Pandya. We then capitulate when chasing in the second innings. This scenario is very similar when we bat first, we don't accelerate properly or put away bad balls. There needs to be a killer instinct when facing the opposition, you want to have an attitude where you want to smash their faces, you can't doubt yourself.

 

[Pete Rose]

If you listen to the presser closely you are left with the impression that it’s his decision to play Malik and hafeez. He’s asked about the performance of the senior players: rather than some sort of diplomatic concession he says ‘well it’s not just the senior players, we are not performing in any of the three areas: batting fielding or bowling.

At least to me it sounded like he made the call about Malik and Hafeez

 

[Pete Rose]

Guys, Pakistan cricket is going the Pakistan way. Genuinely mean no disrespect here. There is no money to invest in domestic infrastructure. No sponsorship deals for the cricketers. Pakistan economy is tanking. Pakistan in general is performing badly in all aspects. It appears Imran Khan might as well be a PCB patron, he has not been able to change things in Pakistan in any meaningful way after coming to power. If anything he has made things worse. Going by his PM performance, I am not even sure he can make a difference at PCB. He still comes across as someone who is hung up on old laurels. Unless there is a bottom up change, in the way things operate in Pakistan, I do not think we are going to see reversals in the (cricketing) fortunes of Pakistan.

There will be no revolution but there are ways to fix this without throwing everything out

 

[Balthazar]

Didn't India still whoop Pakistan in WC matches in the 90s?

 

[jnaveen1980]

India is too good for Pakistan these days. This result shouldn't be shocking. Only hope was India playing well below their best. They didn't. In Asia cup beat them comprehensively without Kohli. Even in the CT in the first encounter win was comprehensive. Then today again India played one bowler less. There was no Dhawan. Missed a few tricks like not taking review against Babar, Kohli walking out without being out. Pakistan could not capitalize on any of that. It is fair to say Indians are far too professional. Even though as fans we can say everything goes out of the window in an India/Pak encounters we have to say professionalism will make you a consistent team. We had worries about lack of batting depth.They compensate this by taking their time upfront build innings and ensuring Indian tail never bats. 3 matches Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah haven't batted even once.

 

[nuttyprof]

There will be no revolution but there are ways to fix this without throwing everything out

Yes a revolution is not what is required. Mindset at the grassroot level needs to change. Not just regarding cricket, but everything else as well.

 

[CadPakFan]

No guarantee Pakistan would have won batting first, our batting may have crumbled against Bhuvi and Bhumra, our bowlers failed to defend 340-350 against England. Our players are just not good enough

The highest total chased this WC is 245, the WC brings a whole new feeling of pressure. If Pak even made 280 there would've been an interesting game.

 

[Revolution]

LOL.. What was the intention of this statement. strongest 90's pak team also lost with India, it was expected loss with the weak current team

 

[pillionrider]

I thought he handled that 'obsolete' situation quite well.

Pompous desi journalists are always sad to see in press cons.

 

[Stark]

People claiming that the gap in the talent of the two teams was as wide as it is today are just at the same delusional level as the people they are dissing. The Indian team of the 90s was not as bankrupt as the pak team is at the moment.

Those same people have been making comments like "From Imran khan to sarfaraz". It is like 27 yrs and they are still clinging to a man that played last 3 decades ago.

 

[Abdul]

Glad to know all his fans have stopped supporting this coward now. I was right after all.

 

[Mean&Green]

Rohit is the new boss of press conference now, Kohli has become too generic and diplomatic with his answers for my liking.

Kohli tries to sound to posh and extra intellectual with his extensive vocab. Rohit is proper Marathi launda says what’s he wants to doesn’t make it boring and extra sugar coated like kohli I’m glad rohit isn’t the captain or India would have definitely won the champions trophy and this World Cup

 

[desi_launda]

Not a good statement for a captain to make!

 

[freezerburn]

Sarfaraz should have answered the question of whether the pak India rivalry is dead with the following: “I don’t know about the rivalry, but we played poorly and we deserved to lose.....”

 

[BalluBalleBaaz]

Captaincy is a tough gig. He needs to have full control of the show from selection to on field decisions. First person PCB shoukd be sacking his Mickey and installing a local coach.

 

[sshakir411]

If Sarfraz was 10lbs lighter with flowing hair like Lala we would have fans saying...”there’s no one we can replace him with” but lucky Pakistan found a half English speaking player that plagiarizes Cristiano Ronaldo’s celebrations...obv that makes him a default choice for captain,

 

[jeetu]

Pakistan were more stronger vs India during 80's than 90's. But everybody some reason always mention 90's in that regard.

Pakistan record vs India

Tests
[table=width: 500, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Decade [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Won [/td][td]Lost [/td][td]Tied [/td][td]Draw [/td][td]W/L [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1950s [/td][td]10 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]0.5 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1960s [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1970s [/td][td]7 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]2 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1980s [/td][td]22 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]17 [/td][td]4 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1990s [/td][td]3 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2000s [/td][td]12 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0.75 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

ODI's
[table=width: 500, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Decade [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Won [/td][td]Lost [/td][td]Tied [/td][td]NR [/td][td]W/L [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1970s [/td][td]3 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1980s [/td][td]30 [/td][td]19 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]2.111 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1990s [/td][td]45 [/td][td]26 [/td][td]17 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]1.529 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2000s [/td][td]40 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]18 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1.222 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2010s [/td][td]14 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0.4 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[saeedhk]

Lol at Sarfraz for trying to justify his stupid decision to bowl by saying ‘Kohli would’ve bowled first also’. Shows this guy doesn’t use his brain. Did this guy really believe Pak will chase against India in a WC match? If India scored 150, Pak would get out for 100. Doesn’t matter if India scored 400 or 200, Pakistan can’t chase. As a captain he is supposed to know the strengths and weaknesses of his team. The management is also dumb just like him.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sarfaraz Ahmed "our target is to bounce back from this defeat and perform well in the remaining 4 matches" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvPAK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19</a> <a href="https://t.co/5xmhOLHkdP">pic.twitter.com/5xmhOLHkdP</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1140512268834279424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Ronaldo7]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sarfaraz Ahmed "our target is to bounce back from this defeat and perform well in the remaining 4 matches" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvPAK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19</a> <a href="https://t.co/5xmhOLHkdP">pic.twitter.com/5xmhOLHkdP</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1140512268834279424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He needs to stop saying 'bounce back'. It's so annoying

 

[watson367]

Pak can’t chase or defend so would’ve lost either way. Our team is pretty mediocre and loses most of the time. Only individual performances from Babar, Fakhar, Amir, or Wahab can make us win last few matches

 

[Jeetlodil]

Ignore what he says. Just going through the motions

 

[Ucdkee]

In my opinion it is the captain and the coaching staff that deserve all the blame for not mantaining discipline. The champions trophy was not a fluke at all. Sarfaraz had a good mix of snr and jnr players in the team which should have improved post ct17. Can't believe how drastically performance of so many players has declined in just two years.

I believe the victory against India in the champions trophy final had got to their heads at that time. The following series against Zimbabwe and other mediocre teams didn't help either where they won without putting in 100% effort.

When the captain himself says that we are dangerous because of our unpredictability, that pretty much sums it up.

 

[TamiL_GarvaM!]

In the midst of all the hoo haa about toss and decison to field...surely its not the captain who alone has the thundering brainwave over the morning coffee and cornflakes that 'we'll field/bat first'....its a joint decision by the mgmt, coach the support staff....the remaining 10 guys or at least the seniors...what were this bunch thinking then...
and on another front if not for aamir, it woud have been much worse...how the fridge did u guys drop him for the aus/eng series....i mean by not bowling a single ball in eng before the wc he became a good bowler automaticaly....and u discarded the fahim ashraf guy-thanks to the eng bilateral series....just as an indian neutral...things to ponder...good luck for the remaining games

 

[Pakhs]

Didn't India still whoop Pakistan in WC matches in the 90s?

Just matches against India are not cricket, Pak won 92, Had a decent 96 WC and only lost to ATG Aus side in 99. We also whooped India in india and everywhere else. Anyway life is a circle and up and down will always happen over a long history.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

I don’t think the gulf between the two sides is as big as some are making out.

In sport all the little differences soon add up and Pakistan could easily tackle such things and see the results pretty quickly.

For example, take fitness more seriously. Stop selecting players who are close to 40 years old. Concentrate more on fielding and up the practice rates. Hire a full time sports psychologist to work on the issues some Pakistani players seem to have. Etc etc.

Sure you’re not going to find batsmen like Kohli and Sharma overnight but you can work with what you have and aim to get the best out of them.