Latif lashes out at Pakistan batters for prioritizing Rizwan's century

New Zealand defeated Pakistan by six wickets in fifth T20I match of the series on Monday at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The winning courtesy was handed over to Mark Chapman for his outstanding century which brought back Kiwis back into the game.

However, Pakistan lost due to shortage of a few runs on board and below par bowling in the second half of the game. Former cricketer Rashid Latif, while talking on a local sports show, explained that when your prime priority is the team's interest.  

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"In the last two overs, a lot of singles were being taken. Imad should've tried for the bigger hit when he was in his comfort zone. There was no point in scoring a single only to get someone else's century done. This is not club cricket, and neither is this one dimensional, particularly happening for someone's personal benefit. This is the national team's match -essentially for Pakistan. You missed a ball to score a run, then were dismissed at the next ball. The following batsman [Faheem Ashraf] also scored a single to rotate the strike," Latif said.

"Those who keep the team as their first priority and their own performance are secondary to them always succeed. Mistakes are bound to happen - maybe Imad genuinely wanted Rizwan to score his century - we all have committed mistakes at one point or another in our careers. But the attitude wasn't justified. The message that was delivered across was wrong. I thought intention was wrong," he further added.