Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif yesterday criticized Babar Azam for Pakistan’s loss to the United States and asked him to learn from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Babar Azam’s Men in Green were playing their first Group A match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 against co-hosts and debutants United States. Both teams had never met in an edition of the T20 World Cup and yesterday’s clash was their first meeting. And the result of the match was unexpected.
Pakistan blew all chances to win yesterday
The United States, led by Gujarat-born batsman Monank Patel, outclassed and outclassed the Pakistanis first in the 40-over regulation game and then in the 12-ball Super Over. Babar Azam and company. He had managed to register 159 runs on the board, which at first seemed like a defendable total given his lethal bowling attack.
However, the entire aspect of the match changed on the 18th, 19th and 20th.
With 5 needed off the last ball, USA’s Nitish Kumar found a boundary off leading pacer Haris Rauf and unexpectedly tied the game. The match went down to a Super Over and the hosts batted first. Mohammad Amir was given the responsibility of making a tight match but he ended up conceding 18 runs which Pakistan could not chase and lost by 5 runs.
What did Rashid Latif say to Babar Azam?
While speaking in his latest YouTube video, Rashid Latif had a harsh choice of words for Babar Azam, who was also upset after the defeat. Latif stated that Pakistan’s journey now in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 will be much more difficult as they will have a lot of pressure in their next match against India.
Rashid Latif feels that Babar Azam and company will be under immense pressure not because of their Super 8 and knockout hopes, but because they will face India next.
“The focus is on the June 9 match against India. Babar will be under a lot of pressure because of the match against India rather than his performance in the World Cup.” -Rashid Latif said through his latest YouTube video.
Latif then made the big statement directed at Babar Azam. The former wicketkeeper-batsman expressed his disappointment in seeing Babar not handling the team during pressure situations. And to learn that skill, the right-handed batsman should learn from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are masters of this art.
Latif admitted that Rohit and Virat know how to run the game and said that Babar, the batsman, could be one of the best in the world, but he is terrible as a leader. Probably every former Pakistan cricketer and every Pakistani fan will feel the same as Latif.
“But he has to learn to withstand pressure, he should learn that from Virat and Rohit. They know how to run the game. As a batsman, Babar is one of the best, but as a captain and leader, there are a lot of things he needs.” learn.” – concluded Rashid Latif.