``A non-performing captain is always under pressure. And it is precisely why Raja lost out,'' Rasheed said.
``Raja's own form plus the defeats of the Pakistan cricket team combined to force the officials take such an extreme step.
``I feel sorry for Raja because he did whatever was possible. He handled the media well and earned a lot of praise for projecting the image of the country. But on-the-field, he failed and it is the performance on the field which matters in the end,'' said Rasheed who must be considering himself under pressure after the national team's defeat in Sri Lanka and Canada.
``A captain can only lift the team if he leads from the front. In this case, Raja couldn't score and a time came when he started considering himself a liability.
``He was under immense mental pressure because he was not scoring and the team was not winning. I really feel sorry for the poor chap who tried to give his best but the luck just didn't favour him,'' Rasheed added. Rasheed was of the view that Pakistan's task was now more stern. ``Not only the morale of the team has to be lifted, Saeed Anwar also has to establish and prove himself as the right choice for Ramiz Raja.''
On the ouster of Salim Malik, Haroon Rasheed simply said: ``The selectors have taken a decision and I hope that the experiment proves right. It will be a good opportunity for the youngsters to cement their places in the team.''
In the wake of Canadian debacle, Rasheed continued, the Pakistan team only needs to stay focused and play positive cricket.
``Leave behind whatever happened in Canada. Look forward and try to stamp our authority over India,'' was Rasheed's advice to his young team. Commenting on the disastrous performance in Canada, Haroon opined that irresponsible batting had a major share in his team's defeat.
``Our batting badly failed in the first three games,'' he said, adding: ``We threw away our wickets in the second game to be bowled out for 116 while collapsed in the third to be bowled out for 145 odd after being 103 for three.''
Rasheed said in the fourth game his team had a good score to defend but fielding, which had been impressive in the earlier matches, crumbled. ``A couple of catches were dropped while Akram crossed the fence after catching Ganguly.''
Rasheed was also unhappy with the wickets that were prepared for the series. ``The wickets for the first three games were seaming ones. No trials or matches were played on it previously.''
Rasheed said the wickets suited the Indian bowlers more because they were gentle medium-pacers while his bowlers were quicker in the air. ``But I must give credit to the Indian bowlers who bowled according to their limitations, forcing the Pakistan batsmen to make mistakes,'' Rasheed said.
On the fiasco created by Inzamamul Haq, Rasheed said the situation could have been avoided ``but nasty remarks were being passed. Inzamam is a very cool guy and he couldn't resist. I personally feel, that Inzamam should have turned a deaf ear or had informed the captain or umpires.'' Defending himself in the scenario, Rasheed said he was not present in the dressing room when the incident happened. ``I was with the chief selector (Salim Altaf) and IMG people because Kabir Khan had suffered a serious injury and I was urging a replacement.''
Haroon emphasised that despite the defeat in Canada, the gain was the emergence of Hasan Raza and Azhar Mahmood who proved that they had the talent and potential of top grade cricket.
``I am also happy with the improvement shown by Shahid Afridi. Now he has started playing shots on the back foot and is also cutting and pulling.''