体坛英语新闻：Pakistan's T20 cricket team captain quits after debacle in Bangladesh

ISLAMABAD, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's national Twenty20 cricket team captain Mohammad Hafeez on Thursday evening stepped down from his post as skipper accepting responsibility about team' s failure to qualify for the knockout stage of the ongoing ICC World T20 in Bangladesh, officials said.

"As a T20 captain I solely take the whole responsibility for the team's performance in the World T20 and resigned from the captaincy," said Hafeez while addressing a press conference in the country's eastern city of Lahore.

He announced his resignation after his meeting with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

"We played both good and bad games but could not qualify for the semifinals. I had a productive discussion with the PCB chairman and I myself offered to resign during the meeting and it is solely my own decision," said Hafeez.

Hafeez was under pressure and criticism after Pakistan team faced a disaster at the hands of West Indies team at the Sher-e- Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur of Bangladesh on April 1.

In a group match that had turned to be a quarterfinal for both sides, West Indies outclassed Pakistan winning the encounter by a big margin of 84 runs.

Hundreds of angry cricket fans chanted slogans against the team players and captain on their arrival at the airport on early Thursday morning.

Hafeez, who was appointed as T20 captain in May 2012 after Misbah-ul-Haq, also gave up the vice-captaincy of the ODI side.

During his tenure as captain, Pakistan won 18 matches and lost 11 out of 29 games they played.

Experts believed that the PCB would not be in hurry to appoint a new captain of the T20 side because the team has no international cricket competition during next six months.