Following Pakistan’s disastrous campaign in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024, their captain Babar Azam has come under fire once again.
The star batsman has been facing criticism for quite some time now and the latest failure has only made things worse. Babar Azam had resigned as captain last year following Pakistan’s elimination in the league stage of the ODI World Cup. However, he was reinstated as T20I captain in April this year but has so far failed to justify the decision.
Under his captaincy, Pakistan drew the T20I series at home against a second-string New Zealand team before losing a T20I against Ireland last month. This was followed by a 2-0 defeat in England before their disastrous exit in the World T20. Pakistan withdrew from the competition after losing against the United States and India. They beat Canada and Ireland, but those wins weren’t enough for a spot in the next round.
Babar Azam’s performance with the bat has not been very good either. He faces criticism from various quarters for his low success rate as well as his inability to deliver in pressure situations. The right-handed batsman finished the campaign with 122 runs at a strike rate of just over 100.
Ahmed Shehzad criticizes Babar Azam:
In a recent chat show, former Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shehzad came down heavily on Babar Azam and pointed out the team’s problems of late. When asked if it would be fair to be too critical of the team when the conditions were not ideal for batting, Shehzad highlighted that the team has been underperforming for quite some time now.
“If you go back in time, you lost to Zimbabwe, then South Africa lost to the Netherlands. Then you got to the final. We lost in the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka. If you look back at the last three months… you lost to Afghanistan, Zimbabwe , Ireland and now the United States couldn’t chase 120 against India. This is not just about this World Cup,” Shehzad told GEO News.
“We get paid for it. If I dominate the team for 4-5 years, I will have no excuse. You have to prepare for every condition, that’s why you are an international cricketer. You must know how to face the conditions and win the match for your country “he added.
When told that batting superstar Virat Kohli was also not doing well with the bat in the US, Shehzad said:
“It’s not important that you perform. You talked about Kohli. Okay, Babar also came out. So what? Where is the team effort? You have to find things in a method… the conditions are for both teams. You need to execute things correctly, from captaincy to using bowlers, and leading the team to win matches, they will blame you.
