LAHORE: Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) Executive Committee Najam Sethi acknowledged the Pakistan team's humiliating defeats in the World Cup and said fans should not have high expectations from its performance in the tournament.
Sethi, who has maintained a silence during Pakistan's dismal performance early in the tournament, was speaking to reporters at the venue of Lahore Literature Festival on Sunday.
The former chairman came to the team's defence, and said that this was the same team which had won Pakistan many Twenty20 matches.
Read: Mr Sethi and co, we want more than just press conferences
Outlining reasons for the team's loss, he said that the Pakistan team played less international matches than the other countries participating in the game's biggest competition.
Sethi, however, was quick to add that the countrymen must not forget that most of the team's regular bowlers were injured and the batsmen were not experienced either.
He went on to say: "This is only the second match that Pakistan has lost ... in these circumstances, team needs support and not criticism."
Read: How Pakistan was annihilated by Windies – through a fan’s eyes
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A revitalised West Indies side had cashed in on a sensational Pakistan batting collapse to notch their first victory of the World Cup by 150 runs at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
In Pakistan's tournament opener on February 15, arch-rivals India had continued their World Cup unbeaten streak against the Greenshirts by winning their sixth tournament encounter since 1992.
Following the defeats, the board and the team were subject to severe criticism as reports of sidelining captain Misbah-ul-Haq and rifts of certain players with fielding coach Grant Luden started to emerge.
Though the board denied all of such reports, but the players' performance on the field and the results it wielded did not leave many convinced.
Read: Separately-held training sessions — not signs of rift enough?
None of the leading Pakistan Cricket Board officials were available in the PCB headquarters at the Gaddafi Stadium the day after Pakistan team’s shock defeat to arch-rivals India at Adelaide in a crucial World Cup match.
Also: Top PCB officials missing in action as key decisions begin to backfire
Neither chairman Shaharyar M. Khan nor PCB Governing Board member and chairman of three committees Najam Sethi or Shakil Sheikh (head of Cricket Committee) — who had played key roles in taking major cricket related decisions prior to the start of the World Cup — were available in the PCB offices which was extremely surprising and reflective of their mindset about the team’s performance in Australia.
The need of the hour was that the trio should have met immediately to discuss the shambolic display by national team at Adelaide after India, who were under tremendous pressure before the crunch game due to their dismal show in the recent Test series and the tri-nation ODI series in Australia, cruised to a 76-run win over Pakistan for the sixth consecutive time in a World Cup.
Keeping in view Ireland’s strong performance against the West Indies and Zimbabwe’s heroic fightback against the formidable South Africans, it is a fact that the chances of Pakistan qualifying for the last-eight stage of the World Cup have been dampened even further.
