Pakistan batting is spineless: Akram

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Saddened by Pakistan’s pathetic show at the Champions Trophy, former captains Wasim Akram and Rameez Raja lashed out at the side’s “spineless” batting and said the time has come to rebuild the team.
Pakistan lost all the three group matches to crash out of the tournament. “What has really concerned me is that we could not play out our full quota of overs even in one match. The batting generally has been spineless and shameful. This is not the way to play in a top tournament. I think it is time changes were made in the team and youngsters were given proper chances to establish themselves,” Akram said.
“For too long we have been relying on the same players who have failed us again and again,” the bowing great added.
Except skipper Misbah-ul Haq, all others came in the firing line of Akram and Rameez. Misbah scored two half-centuries in Pakistan’s defeats to the West Indies and South Africa when the team fell for under 200 runs.
“I don’t think Misbah should be changed as captain. Hafeez is just not mature enough or ready for this job. He must prove himself by being a match winner, then consider him as future captain,” Akram said bluntly.
Raja also called for hard decisions. “I was appalled and sad by the way our batsmen performed. For too long our bowlers have put their hands up and supported the batsmen. Unfortunately there is no balance between the two in our team and that is the major problem,” he said.
“We must learn from India. For the first time in my life I was sure this Indian team will beat us. I am sad by the indifferent and irresponsible attitude of some players. The time has come for changes and a new team to be rebuilt.”
Rameez also said that Pakistan’s entire cricket structure needed to be revamped with special focus on domestic competitions.
“The unfortunate part is that we have focused only on quantity not quality in our domestic cricket and it is not producing the quality players we had in the past,” he added.