Pakistan daily rues World T20 loss

Islamabad: Pakistan needs to decide whether "they want to persist with the old horses or opt for young blood", said a daily after the country failed to reach the finals of the cricket World Twenty20 final.

An editorial in the News International on Saturday said that Pakistan did it again - "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" after Sri Lanka beat them in the semifinals.

"What else can you say about a team that was steered to 91 for 4 by its captain...only to lose the plot and crash to a 16-run loss while chasing 140 to reach the final.

The cricketing think-tank will have to find ways to bolster the team\'s batting.

"To say that it was a disappointing showing from the most consistent team in the history of the Twenty20 World Cup would be an understatement," it said. The daily said that even on a tricky wicket, Pakistan had a good chance to reach their third T20 World Cup final in four attempts but they just blew it.

"Pakistan would have emerged victorious had they come out with little cameos during the run-chase. The worrying part for Pakistan is that their batting collapsed in almost all the crunch games of the tournament, despite the fact that the national selectors had inducted several allrounders to ensure it gets depth," it said.

The editorial said the Sri Lankans "brutally exposed Pakistan's batting weaknesses on a crumbling wicket to reach their second World Twenty20 final".

"Kudos to them; it's a great achievement for a small nation that has really produced some great cricketers like the current duo of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene," it said.

The daily went on to say that Pakistan "should go back to the drawing board". It, however, noted that despite the failures, "the team did win matches against three formidable sides including Australia, South Africa and New Zealand besides beating India in a warm up match. The overall performance will thus stay in the positive range".

The cricketing think-tank will have to find ways to bolster the team's batting. "Pakistan will also have to decide whether they want to persist with the old horses or opt for young blood.

"Their major tournaments in the future will be the ICC Champions Trophy next year, followed by World Twenty20 in 2014 and the World Cup in 2015. Only hard work and better preparation will minimise chances of any Colombo-like losses during these assignments," it added.

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