'Paisa waha zyada dete hoge' - Fans react to Wasim Akram's scathing criticism of Pakistan team management amid PAK vs SL Asia Cup 2023

Legendary pace bowler Wasim Akram lashed out at the Pakistan team management during his team's Asia Cup 2023 Super Fours match against Sri Lanka on Thursday (September 14). The former Pakistan captain pointed to the failure of team management's support during the Men in Green's crucial match, which will open the door for them to qualify for the final against arch-rivals India.

Advertisment

The weather in Colombo was not favourable for the match as the toss was delayed by nearly two hours due to rain. Amidst rain playing spoilsport at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Akram, during a discussion on Star Sports, said that Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur is in Derbyshire and is tweeting about the county instead of being in Sri Lanka for his side's important tournament.

Suddenly the tide turns against Pakistan in ongoing Asia Cup 

Babar Azam and Co. have had a dominant start to their Asia Cup 2023 campaign with their commendable victory over Nepal in the tournament opener. However, all of a sudden, after a massive 228-run loss against India in the Super Fours, they are under a lot of pressure. Their net run rate took a huge hit, making the encounter against Sri Lanka a do-or-die affair for them. If Sri Lanka beats Pakistan or the game is washed out due to rain, the home team will enter the final.

Advertisment

All these scenarios infuriated Akram and forced him to criticise former Pakistan head coach Arthur for not being with the team. “Our team director is in Derbyshire and tweeting about county games instead of being here with the Pakistani team in the Asia Cup," Akram told Star Sports.

Meanwhile, talking about the match, Pakistan captain Babar won the toss and elected to bat first in the 45-over match. Both teams have made a few changes to their Playing XIs from the last match.

Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Mohammad Haris, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Zaman Khan

Advertisment

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana

Here's how fans reacted to Wasim Akram's criticism of Pakistan Men's Team Director:

And @TheRealPCB is paying him heavily

Pathetic management

— Ali Hasnain Shah🇵🇰 (@ali_hasnainshah) September 14, 2023

Why is he still the team director? You can have someone else who can put efforts to the betterment of your game

— Anuraj Kumar (@BeAnuraj) September 14, 2023

Pls sack him, we dont need these type of directors

— Samiullah Habib (@Samikhan1982) September 14, 2023

Just Pakistan things 😭😭

— ANSHUMAN🚩 (@AvengerReturns) September 14, 2023

Paisa waha zyada dete hoge simple

— Ansh Shah (@asmemesss) September 14, 2023

Its a joke of the millennium for Pak 🤣🤣

— Manoj Kumar 🕉️🇮🇳 (@manoj_begu) September 14, 2023

What a Joke of a team. 😂

— The CrickFun (@TheCrickFun) September 14, 2023

Bhikaristan ki bhikari director, paise ke liye udhar gaya hoga.

— Esha Srivastav🇮🇳🚩 (@EshaSanju15) September 14, 2023