Targeting Agha's family by fans was shameful: Mirza

Pallekele, Feb 27 (PTI) Pakistan left-arm pacer Salman Mirza on Friday said it was very "shameful" for the fans to target the family of captain Salman Ali Agha after the team's disappointing outing in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

Agha has struggled with the bat, scoring just 60 runs from six matches, while there has been mounting criticism for his leadership abilities.

But Mirza defended his skipper.

".... any such act which targets the player's family is a very shameful thing. Because the player always wants to do good in the ground. If he doesn't perform well on any given day, that doesn't mean you should target their families. And I don't think this should happen at all," Mirza said ahead off Pakistan's crucial Super Eights match against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan will need a commanding win over already-eliminated Sri Lanka on Saturday and a favour from England to keep their semifinal hopes alive.

But Mirza is looking at the positives and said his team was only eying to do whatever is in their hands, win against Sri Lanka and end the tournament on a positive note.

"Yes, absolutely. There is enough capability in Pakistan that they not only reach the semi-final but also do very well. And as you said, it is hanging by a thread – now that is not in our control. We are just watching our match and hopefully will do well in that," he said.

"... Regardless of today's game or tomorrow's game, we can't control it and we are just focusing on our game and we will try to do best in that.

"As a player you always want to do well and you always evaluate yourself whether you are doing well or not. As a player - we try to give our best for the team and we try to do that. But whether it happens or not, that's not in our control." Meanwhile, Sri Lanka bowling coach Rene Ferdinands said losing all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga at the start of the tournament was a big setback for the co-hosts.

Hasaranga was ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup due to a significant left hamstring tear sustained during their opening match against Ireland on February 8 after 3/25 in that game.

"Well clearly if you have a player of high profile like that (Hasaranga) who is a world class performer, any team that uses a world class performer is going to have challenges restoring the balance of the team.

"And so we are in the same boat. I mean that was clear. So we have done our best and we have good replacements. And yeah, of course, that's a challenge. And you never get two Wanindu Hasaranga is one. So that's expected," he said ahead of their inconsequential match against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka's campaign might be already over, but Ferdinands said they will look to end their campaign on a high note. "It's like any match, we want to try to win it. We know that Pakistan is a good opposition, we respect them, but in every sense we want to try to win. There's never been any other question So we're always looking to bounce back and we're preparing in that vein," he said.

Ferdinands said things exactly didn't go according to their plans in terms of conditions.

"So generally like that, we are talking about adhering to processes and things like that. And in general terms, if we have a process and there are conditions that are different, and it did not exactly go to plan, but that is the nature of professional cricket, You have your professional processes and you try to adhere to them," he said. PTI SSC PDS SSC PDS PDS