KARACHI: Pakistan cricket team captain Sarfaraz Ahmed insisted there is no need for him to apologise for their performances in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, saying his team worked hard to get the right results in England.

Speaking to the press in Karachi after Pakistan's return from England, Sarfaraz Ahmed said the team responded very well after the defeat to India and bounced back strongly.

Sarfaraz Ahmed also rued the net run rate rule that saw New Zealand edge past Pakistan into the semi-final despite both teams finishing the group-stages with 11 points each. Pakistan's net run rate took a massive hit when they lost their first World Cup 2019 match to the West Indies by 7 wickets. Pakistan were bundled out for 105 after which West Indies gunned down the total in just 13.4 overs.

"There is no need to say sorry. We worked hard and gave our best. We haven't returned with 2-4 points, but with 11. We accept that we didn't perform well as a team in the 1st 5 matches but it wasn't as bad a performance as people are making it out to be," Sarfaraz Ahmed said.

Pakistan were down and out after they lost their 5th match to arch-rivals India in Manchester on June 16. Sarfraz's men lost all the momentum that they had gained after stunning England in their 2nd World Cup 2019 match after back-to-back defeats to Australia and India.

Sarfaraz Ahmed pointed out that the personal abuse some of the Pakistan players received after defeat to India affected them psychologically but that the team management helped them handle the situation well.

Sarfaraz was body-shamed on a number of occasions and an unruly fan hurled hurtful comments at the Pakistan captain when he visited a UK mall with his son.

Pakistan roared back to form after their loss to India as they kept themselves in contention for a semi-final spot with wins over South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan on the bounce. Sarfaraz's men finished their campaign with a convincing win over Asian rivals Bangladesh at Lord's on June 5.

Revealing that he had called for a meeting after the India defeat to address issues with the team, Sarfaraz Ahmed said: "In those 7 days [after the loss to India], we took 2 days off. After that I called for a team meeting with all the players. Our management was not there. I spoke from my heart. I noted down mistakes that were made in the first 5 matches and discussed it with the players.

Sarfaraz added: "The good thing is the players responded well. In the last 4 matches, we made an outstanding comeback. Unfortunately, we weren't able to qualify for the semi-final. We acknowledge that we didn't play well in the first 5 matches. Unfortunately we were not able to qualify because of the net run rate.

"As a team, we performed well. Most players, including seniors and young ones, performed well. They performed their roles well. I want to thank the support staff as well. They put in a lot of hard work. They tried their best to push us to better things.

"MIckey Arthur, our coach,handled personnel really well. After the India match, we had a tough time. The way the management handled the situation was very good." —NNI