ICC World Cup 2019 | Proud of the way the team fought back to win the last four matches, says Sarfaraz Ahmed

Pakistan ended their World Cup 2019 campaign with a 97-run win over Bangladesh in their last group stage fixture. Sarfraz Ahmed & Co. just managed just one win from their first five games at the World Cup but bounced back emphatically to end to win four games on a trot as they narrowly missed out on a semi-final berth to New Zealand. 

Ahmed claimed that his team does not need to be ashamed despite coming under severe criticism from media outlets back in Pakistan. The wicketkeeper has set his sights on next year's T20 World Cup in Australia as the next challenge for the national team. 

"I don't think we need to be ashamed of anything. We had a tough time in the first five matches specially after the defeat to India but I am proud of the way the team fought back to win the last four matches.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board will decide on who will be the captain. But personally, since you asked me, I know these players very well now. Most of them are young and if we learn from our mistakes in the World Cup, I can take this team to the next level, especially with the World T20 Cup coming up next year in Australia," Ahmed was quoted as saying PTI sources.

Ahmed, who has represented Pakistan 114 ODIs and 49 Test matches, added that he was satisfied with the team's display in England and is confident he can lead the team to the next level in the near future. 

"I am satisfied with our performance and we should have reached the semis but in overall context and given the tough conditions we faced in England I think we did respectably well. I have not thought about leaving the captaincy. I know that if I get a chance to continue, we as a team will make more progress," he said.

"There were some incidents with the players including myself in London which we reported to the Board. They were not needed and it hurt and shook the players. We were upset at losing to India but we didn't expect such reactions, even though isolated. It was a great performance and I think the washout against Sri Lanka and the performance against West Indies in the end kept us out of the semis. But the pitches variation was something which we didn't expect in the tournament. We were tested and we played badly against Australia and India," Ahmed added. 9