Following Pakistan’s 61-run defeat to fierce rivals India in a T20 World Cup encounter on Sunday, Babar Azam, an underperforming batting star, found himself in the firing line as a number of former players in the nation called for his axing along with a few other senior cricketers.
In Sunday night’s lopsided match in Colombo, former captain Babar, veteran spinner Shadab Khan, and pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi all fell short. Young opener Ishan Kishan (77 off 40) destroyed Pakistan’s bowling, but the combined power of India’s best pacers and spinners dominated their batters.
“If It was in my hands, I would not pick Babar, Shadab and Shaheen again in the T20 team. They have had plenty of chances to come through for Pakistan but failed again yesterday,” PTI quoted former captain Shahid Afridi as saying.
It was time to train younger players in the format, according to Afridi. Although his team was three down for 13 runs in a tough chase of 176, Babar was clean bowled by Axar Patel for 5 runs while trying a slog, while Shaheen was smashed for 31 runs in two overs.
Although former captain and legendary batsman Javed Miandad was unwilling to discuss the defeat in detail, he did admit that Pakistan’s cricket squad had struggled under pressure.
“Bhai bade matches main hi players ko character dikhana padta hai, woh hamare players nahi dekha paye (In big matches, players have to show character. Unfortunately our players didn’t show that character).”
Another former captain who has consistently supported Babar, Mohammad Yousaf, also stated that the fiasco should end Babar and Shaheen’s T20 careers.
“Time’s up for Shaheen, Baba, and Shadab, Pakistan’s T20 squad needs new performers, not empty wins against weaker sides,” Yousaf posted on X.
Speaking on Indian television channel ABP, former bowler Shoaib Akhtar made fun of Babar’s superstar status.
“You have made a superstar out of a player (Babar Azam) who cannot win you a game. For the last 15-20 years, there has been no investment. The sad reality of the situation is that while we fought with India on the ground at one point, today we can’t even dream of beating them,” he said.
A longtime and outspoken critic of Babar, Ahmed Shehzad believed that Babar had played his last match for Pakistan in the format.
“Babar gone once again. Maybe it was his last dance to prove his worth in this format,” Shehzad wrote on X.
The loss has demoralized the Pakistani cricket community, with many social media users making fun of the team and speculating that the Pakistani authorities ought to have followed the boycott demand in favor of Bangladesh.
“Would have been better if we had kept with the boycott,” posted several Pakistan social media handles.
Perhaps it was time to acknowledge that India was currently a far better team than Pakistan in every format, according to former captain Moin Khan.
“We got our hopes up again this time but as a professional cricketer there was always that lingering feeling that the Indian players will come through when it mattered the most,” Moin said.
Miandad expressed surprise that Pakistan used only one pacer in Shaheen Shah Afridi.
“Why didn’t they bowl (pacer) Faheem Ashraf. Playing six spinners what kind of strategy is this?” he wondered.
