Pakistan won the home series against New Zealand with all guns blazing but failed to retain its top spot on the ICC ODI Team Rankings.
The national team ruled the charts for only 48 hours before being dethroned by the Kiwis, who defeated Pakistan by 47 runs at the National Bank Stadium on Sunday.
Former PCB chairman and Pakistani cricketer PCB claimed on his YouTube channel that Pakistan fails to show up on big occasions. Despite winning the series, it would have been even more satisfying if the national team had annihilated the Blackcaps.
“Pakistan had a great opportunity to whitewash the series, but that didn’t happen, so there will be some remorse.” We had a chance against England as well, reaching 3-2, but they [England] eventually won the T20 series. Similarly, when we played Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, we lost a pool match and then lost in the finals. “Pakistan cannot capitalize on major opportunities that present themselves,” Raja stated.
The national squad experienced a year where it came so close but couldn’t pull off the victory, whether it was in the Asia Cup final, the T20 World Cup final, or the home T20I series against England. Yesterday was another of those unlucky days when Pakistan won the series but couldn’t completely destroy an otherwise decimated New Zealand squad.
