Pakistan greats rue missed Aussie opportunity

LAHORE: Former Pakistan greats on Monday lamented their team's 3-2 series defeat to an out-of-form and under-strength Australia as a great opportunity missed to restore faith in the game back home.

"Pakistan cricket has been reeling from problem after problem. Had the team won the series, it would have been a great boost to the game in the country, sadly we lost that chance," said former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram. Wasim was critical of Pakistan's decision to rest frontline paceman Umar Gul for the pivotal fourth game. Wasim believes Younus Khan's elevation to the captaincy had blunted his batting. "Younus made a couple of costly mistakes, he should have promoted Kamran Akmal top of the order because he has been batting well," said Wasim, adding the side needed to improve its running between the wickets.

Former paceman Sarfraz Nawaz agreed on-song Gul should not have been rested, branding his omission "a crime". "I think Pakistan must include new players who are young and energetic and get rid of players like Shoaib Akhtar who have fitness problems.

Chief selector Abdul Qadir said that with Pakistan virtually a no-go area for international cricket, the game in the country was crying out for a series win. "It was very important that we won an important series considering the situation in Pakistan, where we are having no cricket," said Qadir.

Another former captain, Moin Khan, blamed Pakistan's defeat on poor batting. "I fail to understand why we can't bat the full 50 overs, it shows that our batsmen struggled against Australia," Khan said. link...