Pakistan's dream of lifting the Asia Cup 2025 was shattered last Sunday as they went down by five wickets against arch-rivals India in the final in Dubai.
The final was closely fought with Pakistani bowlers performing well initially, but ultimately India prevailed, with Rinku Singh scoring the winning runs.
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This was India's ninth Asia Cup title and their third consecutive win over arch-rivals Pakistan in a span of two weeks, which clearly showed how dominant the Men in Blue were throughout the course of the tournament. They also maintained a 100 per cent win record.
Salman Ali Agha and his boys faced a lot of criticism back home for their horrendous show against their neighbours and the humiliation they faced in the Asia Cup.
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Shoaib Akhtar lashes out at Salman Ali Agha and his team
Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at the current T20 side and singled out captain Salman Ali Agha for being uninspiring on the pitch.
Speaking on ARY News (via Crictracker), Akhtar said: "Where will the attitude come when the captain [Salman Agha] is not inspiring? When the captain doesn’t deserve his place in the side, what can he do to inspire? The captain is a reflection of the cricket board’s choices.
Pakistan team’s performances are a reflection of the coaches. You have brought in a coach [Mike Hesson] who isn’t willing to listen to stuff. We have died here (on channels) telling him, play one more fast bowler bhai (brother), and one more batter in Hasan Nawaz. But the coach says no, he wants to play half-baked all-rounders. They can't win you the matches in critical situations."
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Akhtar also slammed the team management, as he added: "If Haris Rauf isn’t performing, you have options but you haven’t played them. When the management is insecure, then they won’t allow big people to get forward – and the work won’t be done.
India makes a hero of Virat Kohli also, Shubman Gill also, Abhishek Sharma also – why aren’t they insecure about making heroes? Here the management needs to be secure. Senseless and headless-chicken management. The team combinations weren’t right, the captaincy wasn’t spot-on, and they weren’t willing to listen to us (former players talking on channels). I don’t think the captain justifies his place in the middle-order and as a spinner."