Pakistan cricket is at ‘the lowest point,’ drastic changes are needed: Imad Wasim

In a no-holds-barred press conference after Pakistan’s elimination from the T20 World Cup 2024, all-rounder Imad Wasim said that Men in Green have hit the “lowest point” and the team needs “drastic” changes to move forward. Pakistan
were eliminated from the World Cup
after the USA’s match against Ireland was washed out in Florida on Friday. With only four points possible for Pakistan after defeats to the USA and India, the United States qualified for Super 8 with five points.

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They defeated Canada and Pakistan and got one point from a washout against Ireland.

“This is the lowest point. You can’t go any lower than this. That’s the fact,” Imad, who returned to the team after reversing his decision to retire from international cricket, told a press conference.

“It’s not my domain but I think there should be changes and there should be a drastic change so we can move forward,” he added.

The 35-year-old left-arm spinner said that changes need to be far-fetching and most important one has to be with the temperament.

“In everything and every aspect. How to take the game on? How to play the game? This is what I believed in and this is why I came back and tried to do things but it didn’t happen,” he added.

“I’m giving my personal opinion. Don’t make these headlines – it’s all your mindset. What mindset do you want to play the game with? You either play fire with fire, or you play your way.

“So, I personally believe that you should play fire with fire. And even if you lose, you can sit down and say to yourself that on that day we were not good enough,” he said.

“The problem is our team is so good, our players are so good that we are good enough to play any kind of cricket. So you have to get rid of fear of failure mindset.

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“In everything – batting, bowling, fielding, you have to get rid of fear of failure mindset. As I said earlier, personnel change doesn’t change anything, just changing the mindset can change a lot of things,” he added.

“We compete with the world’s best teams. Their mindset has changed over time. We used to rule in T20 cricket. I think we have moved back a little now. If you change the mind of the player, you can achieve things beyond your limits. I always believe in this.”

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On defeats to USA and India in New York, Wasim said that the pitch must be considered while talking about the results.

“You can also say the wickets are a bit tougher than what you think and any team can beat anyone. You can see Nepal was almost through. So, things can happen but I think the approach, how we play the game, I think we will change that and all of the boys are eager to do that because this defeat hurt us really badly,” he said.

Wasim added that he would decide on his future after Sunday’s game against Ireland.

“As far as retirement is concerned, there’s a match tomorrow. We’ll play a match and obviously, after that, we’ll think about it and sort out whatever we need to. Because to be honest, a lot of things are going to be sorted out in the Pakistan team. The chairman and the board will sort it out.

“We have given away two games by ourselves. Losing to USA, well, losing is a part of the game, but we shouldn’t have lost to USA. Even against India – we had that game in our hands and we shouldn’t have lost. So, there is no excuse for anything. We are losing matches collectively,” he said.

“After the match against Ireland – we will sit down and talk and then decide. I don’t do anything secretly. I told everyone when I retired last time. If something happens, I will come and tell everyone.”