One defeat can damage any side in the Cricket World Cup. Think of what three losses in a row can accomplish! The Pakistan cricket squad, led by Babar Azam, is experiencing the same thing. Afghanistan delivered another severe blow to the 1992 World Cup winners before they had even had a chance to bounce back from their defeats to Australia and India. On Monday in Chennai, Afghanistan easily defeated Pakistan’s 283-run mark thanks to a confident display by its bowlers and hitters. Scroll down to read Pakistan Legend Want This Player As Captain After WC Fiasco.
Pakistan Legend Want This Player As Captain After WC Fiasco
Pakistan, under the leadership of Babar Azam, is on the verge of losing the World Cup after such a devastating defeat. Former players from Pakistan attacked skipper Babar Azam and other players for their subpar play during the competition. Babar was held accountable for Pakistan’s string of losses against India, Australia, and Afghanistan, regardless of who was at fault—Wasim Akram, Misbah ul Haq, Ramiz Raja, Rashid Latif, Muhammad Hafeez, Aaqib Javed, Shoaib Malik, Moin Khan, or Shoaib Akhtar.
After the eight-wicket loss in Chennai, Babar made the unwise decision to give a bat to Afghanistan’s opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
However, the gesture has not been well received in the local cricket circles, which has intensified calls to remove Babar from the captaincy.
According to news agency PTI, Aaqib stated that Shaheen Shah Afridi ought to take Babar’s place as Pakistan’s captain in the white ball games.
“Shaheen is Pakistan cricket’s brightest hope for the future. The former bowler claimed that Babar had not demonstrated his ability as a skipper in white ball games.
Aaqib, the director and head coach of the PSL team Lahore Qalandars, where Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen, and Haris Rauf play, also chastised every other player for missing the party against Afghanistan, except Rauf.
To have any chance of making it to the semifinals, Pakistan must now win all four of their remaining matches against Bangladesh, South Africa, England, and New Zealand.
“The players’ body language and fielding (against Afghanistan) was very unconvincing.” They simply didn’t seem to be able to hold 283—a substantial total—to defense. “The fielding was appalling and the bowling was mediocre,” Akram remarked.
Remarkably, Akram added, there had been no fitness evaluations for Pakistani players for the previous 12 months.
How can one hope to do effectively in modern cricket if they are not fully fit? How do you stop boundaries or accept catches? Some of our players fielded it in a style that suggested they were indulging in a diet high in rich foods and cuisines,” he remarked.
Misbah claimed that Babar’s field placements and bowling changes were abysmal and that his captaincy left much to be desired.
“By using Haris Rauf in the power play when there are just two fielders outside the circle, he has wasted him. After getting hammered in his opening over (against Australia), Haris lost all self-assurance.
“He should be brought on with at least a sweeper at cover and three other fielders on the leg-side deep,” Misbah stated.
Paradoxically, Misbah and Akram were instrumental in persuading the PCB to name Babar captain for all formats, benching Sarfaraz Ahmed following the World Cup 2019.
Former Pakistan all-rounder Razzaq claimed that Babar was interfering with other players’ games and mentioned that Shafique was batting strongly against Bangladesh and that he altered the game after Babar took the field.
“When Babar bats slowly it hurts other batters who then can’t play their natural game and this is affecting Pakistan’s strike rate in this tournament,” Razzaq stated.
