Latif blames Pak team management, players for losing series against Sri Lanka

Thursday, 19 July 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Karachi (ANI): Former Pakistani wicketkeeper Rashid Latif has blamed the team management as well as the players’ failure to cope with the nature of the pitches in Sri Lanka for their Test series loss.

Pakistan’s recent 1-0 defeat in the Test series against Sri Lanka was their first Test series loss in almost two years.

While some believe the failure of Pakistan’s fast bowlers (barring Junaid Khan) and some of the experienced batsmen was the sole reason for the loss, others blame poor umpiring and the absence of DRS for Pakistan’s defeat in the first Test which eventually went on to decide the result of the Test series.

“I think the pitches had a big role to play – our batsmen were uncomfortable on the pitches that offered assistance to the bowlers. Likewise, our bowlers looked uncomfortable on batting tracks.

“I don’t think team combination was much of a problem because this is more or less the same team that had beaten Sri Lanka and England in the UAE just six months ago,” Latif told Pakpassion.net.

He also blamed some off-the-field issues that distracted the players and greatly affected their performance on the field.

“I think there were some issues behind the scenes that affected the team’s performance. Firstly, there was the issue of the central contracts. Then there was the captaincy issue as Mohammad Hafeez was named captain (in T20) and lastly, the change of management – all these things have happened recently and these three factors, collectively, might have affected the team’s performance,” Latif said.

Pakistan lost the first Test where Mohammad Hafeez captained the side in the absence of regular captain Misbah-ul-Haq who had been suspended by the ICC for slow over-rate in the ODI series.