“They Call It Team, But It Isn’t”: Pak Head Coach Gary Kirsten Blasts Team After T20 World Cup Exit

In a scathing critique, head coach Gary Kirsten has lambasted the Pakistan cricket team for a lack of unity, describing the situation as unprecedented in his extensive coaching career. This comes in the wake of Pakistan’s dismal exit from the T20 World Cup held in the USA and West Indies.

Once considered strong contenders as the previous edition’s runners-up, Pakistan’s performance in the tournament was nothing short of disastrous. They managed consolatory victories over Canada and Ireland after shocking losses to the USA and arch-rivals India, resulting in an early group-stage exit.

Kirsten, who led India to their 2011 ODI World Cup triumph, did not hold back in his assessment. “There’s no unity in Pakistan’s team. They call it a team, but it isn’t a team. They aren’t supporting each other; everyone is separated, left and right. I’ve worked with many teams, but I’ve never seen such a situation,” Kirsten stated, according to Pakistani media reports.

Sources quoted by Geosuper.tv revealed Kirsten’s concerns about the players’ fitness and skill levels, highlighting that they lag significantly behind global standards. Following the loss to India, Kirsten attributed the defeat to poor decision-making. “We had the game at 72 for 2 with six or seven overs left. Disappointing not to get across the line from the position we got ourselves into,” he remarked.

Despite a consolation win against Ireland, which ensured Pakistan finished third in Group A with two wins from four games, the overall performance was far below expectations. The win in Lauderhill, Florida, came too late to salvage their T20 World Cup campaign, marking a period of introspection and likely significant changes for Pakistan cricket moving forward.