Former Pakistan cricket captain and star all-rounder Shahid Afridi has strongly criticized Babar Azam for his subpar captaincy and the poor strategies during recent matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
After the upset defeat from Afghanistan Babar has faced significant backlash from fans and former cricketers as Pakistan suffered three consecutive losses in the tournament, minimizing their prospects of reaching the top four.
Criticizing Babar Azam, the former captain Shahid Afridi said “Captaining your national side is a matter of honour but it is not a bed of roses. When you do good, everyone praises you and when you don’t, everyone blames you as well as the head coach.”
Afridi further questioned that “It is the captain’s job to apply pressure, a pacer is bowling and there is no slip? Four are required on 12 balls and you’ve taken backward point? Apply pressure. What do the Australians do? They take one to two wickets and then put all of their players in the circle to apply pressure, like they did against Pakistan,” he added
Commenting on Pakistan’s fielding the former captain said “When you are not in the game [not focused], then these things [fielding issues] will happen. When you are trying to hide somewhere, when you are not thinking positively, I think that at times we are waiting for miracles, miracles don’t just happen. They happen with brave men who know how to fight,” Afridi continued.
After the thrashing defeat from Afghanistan Pakistan will now take on the in-form South African side at Chennai on Friday, October 27 in must win match to make a spot in the final four.
