The World Cup is the biggest stage of setting an example. Sometimes, it is memorable, sometimes it’s not a good one. A mistake can be effective for a team for the whole tournament. India and Pakistan locked horns at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on October 14. It was a thrilling match. Ind-Pak always has a different kind of hype. This time the madness was also there. After the defeat, Pakistan captain Babar Azam faced a lot of criticism. The former Pakistan Player also talked about his captaincy.
Shoaib Malik on Babar Azam:
Men in Green faced a defeat of seven wickets against India. In that match, except for the Pakistani top order, their middle order and lower order just got destroyed by the Indian bowlers. Captain Babar Azam scored a half-century in this match. It was disappointing for the team. Pakistan lost once again to India in the World Cup.
The former Pakistani skipper Shoaib Malik was not happy with the team’s performance and Babar’s captaincy. He wants Babar to contribute more to the team. Malik said, “ Look, I will give you my honest opinion on this. I have already said this in the previous interviews that Babar should leave captaincy, It is just my opinion but there’s a lot of homework behind it. Babar, as a plaster, can do wonders for himself as well as the team.”
He also added, “ It is my personal opinion and that is not because we lost the game today or we lost by a big margin, no it is not built on that.”
He even questioned Babar’s captaincy skills and their contribution. Babar Azam is also not in a very good form. While talking about this, Malik said, “ I think that Babar, as a leader, doesn’t think out of the box. One shouldn’t mix his leadership with his batting skills as they both are different. He has been a captain for a long time now, but he hasn’t been able to improve himself.”
Babar’s form and Pakistan’s condition in the tournament:
Pakistan had a thrilling journey. They faced the Netherlands in the first match. Pakistan didn’t have a good start. The openers were disappointing. Rizwan scored 68 runs in 75 balls. Shakeel scored 68 runs in 52 balls. They defeated the Netherlands by 81 runs.
In the second match, Pakistan faced Sri Lanka. In that match, Pak bowlers were on a roll. Though Sri Lanka batted extremely well. Hasan Ali took 4 wickets in 71 runs. Haris Rauf took 2 wickets in 64 runs. Shaheen Afridi, Nawaz, and Shadab Khan picked one each. Pakistan won the match by 6 wickets.
Babar Azam is not in a good form. He scored 5 runs in 18 balls. In the second match, he scored 10 runs in 15 balls. In the match against India, he scored a half-century. He is not in form. To be in a strong position he has to score more runs and contribute to the team. His form will be important for Pakistan in this tournament.
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