Khushdil Shah was targeted with ‘parchi’ chants by fans after he failed to perform during the seventh T20I of the series against England.
Pakistan are facing a middle-order crisis in the shortest format of the game; since the 2022 Asia Cup, their middle-order batters have seldom performed in pressure situations, with the opening duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam doing the majority of run-scoring. During the seventh and final T20I of the series against England last week, the Pakistan fans expressed their anger at an underperforming Khushdil Shah, chanting ‘Parchi’ following his dismissal.
The chant is an expression made to signify that a player was included the team on the basis of references rather than merit. While former cricketers were critical of the chants made by the fans, former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed also spoke in detail about Pakistan players not being receptive to criticism. Javed’s comments come after PCB chairman Ramiz Raja had revealed his chat with Babar, where the Pakistan captain stated that their players receive too much of criticism from media.
“This is very unfortunate. Whether it’s the board, the team management or the player, the main job is to execute the skill. When you take five wickets in a game, you don’t need others to praise you because you know you have done well,” Javed said during a conversation with reporters.
The former Pakistan cricketer also revealed that Khushdil Shah “cried” in the dressing room after the ‘Parchi’ chants, and insisted that the players should focus on improving their performances rather than the comments made in media.
“You are appreciated for the work you do. Khushdil was crying in the dressing room, what’s the point of that? He shouldn’t be focussing on what people are saying, he should instead be focussing on performances. If you score, if you score a hundred or a fifty, the people will praise you. Why are they not focussing on their performances?” said Javed.
“They say middle-order is not playing well. Can I say that they are performing good? This isn’t happening inside an office, this is happening in front of TV screens. This is reality and you can’t run away from it. You should focus on your system, and think about why you are not having options?”
