Legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar has lambasted Pakistan captain Babar Azam for his poor leadership after the shocking defeat against Zimbabwe in the Super 12 stage at T20 World Cup 2022. Chasing the paltry target of 131, the Men in Green lost wickets at regular intervals and eventually fell short by one run in a nail-biting thriller.
The loss against Zimbabwe has put Pakistan in a shaky position regarding their chances of making it to the semi-finals of the multi-team tournament. After the embarrassing defeat, Akhtar raised questions over Babar’s captaincy and mentioned how Mohammad Nawaz has struggled while bowling the final overs.
Akhtar also suggested that Babar should bat at three and listed out the major flaws in the match, including speedster Shaheen Shah‘s fitness.
“I don’t know why is it so hard for you guys to understand. I have said this before, and I am saying it again that with our top and middle-order, we can achieve big success. We can’t win consistently. Pakistan have a bad captain. Pakistan are out of the World Cup. Nawaz has bowled the last over in the three games we have lost,” said Akhtar on his YouTube channel.
“Babar should bat one down. Major flaw in Shaheen Shah Afridi’s fitness. Major flaws in the captaincy and major flaws in the management. We will back you, but what brand of cricket are you playing? You can’t just walk into a tournament and expect that the opposition will let you win,” he added.
Akhtar further pointed out the problems in the middle order and said the management is picking the wrong combination, which is consistently deteriorating Pakistan’s game.
“For God’s sake, you have lost to Zimbabwe. Don’t you understand your cricket is deteriorating. The management to PCB chairman don’t have brains? We had to play 4 bowlers, we have been playing 3 fast bowlers. Proper middle order is needed, you are selecting something else. Two good openers were needed who can use the 30-yard circle. Fakhar Zaman is sitting there; you didn’t use him. He is a back-foot player and would do well in Australia,” Akhtar explained.