Daily Times

Sir: Pakistan’s cricket team is back home after losing the quarterfinal to Australia in the World Cup, 2015. This defeat was predictable as the problem with the Pakistani team against Australia is that our team loses the match in their minds even before they step into the ground. This is just a theory but practically the team lost because of poor fielding, dropped catches and the usual collapsing of openers and the middle order batting. The majority of our players are new in the game so they work too hard to justify their selection. Cricket is a game of not just working hard but working smart. These new players were pushing themselves very hard towards losing the game.
For a major tournament like the World Cup, most of our seasoned players, who have a few world cups behind them, are kept aside to make room for younger players. For example, if New Zealand can recall Daniel Vittori then why can we not recall Saeed Ajmal, Saqlain Mushtaq or Younis Khan? I think it is about time the cricket board takes stock and stops experimenting in major tournaments.
NASIR RIAZ
Muscat
Oman