In an apparent desperate move to escape public wrath back home, the Pakistani cricketers have apologised to their fans saying they were “ashamed” and “heart-broken” to let the nation down with their worst World Cup performance since 1975. “We express our apologies and would like to share the grief with every single follower of the game,” said the Pakistani cricketers in an extraordinary statement. “We are ashamed, disappointed, sad and heart-broken after letting the nation down,” the statement said. Pakistan, who have reached the semi-finals of all but two World cups, failed to qualify for the Super Six stage in the ongoing World Cup. They suffered humiliating losses to Australia and England before an emphatic defeat against India rubbed the salt into their wounds. The high-profile team, which went into the tournament as one of the favourites, faced a potential backlash from the cricket-mad public back home. The statement, which was similar to the appeal made by some Indian cricketers following the angry protests by their fans after the defeat to Australia, tried to assuage the hurt feelings of the followers, admitting that the players had failed to perform to their abilities. “We knew that we were carrying the hopes of millions of our fans and have failed to live up to expectations. We tried our level best, we trained extremely hard and did everything within our reach. But things didn’t work the way we would have liked to and we have no excuses to offer,” the statement said. “The expectations were there because we had world class cricketers. But unfortunately, none of us displayed the talent god has blessed us with. We know that tempers are high back home and rightly so because we have not played the cricket we were capable of. The anger of the fans is justified because they are the ones who made us the heroes and have every right to criticise us for our failures,” it said. “The sun will rise again tomorrow and Inshallah Pakistan will bounce back and cricket would continue to flourish.”
