The Babar Azam-led Pakistan cricket team is facing criticism and backlash after a disappointing performance at the recent T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA.
The team were disqualified from the tournament in the group stage after losing to the USA and India. Though they won against Canada and Ireland, they could not make it to the Super Eight, as their points totalled just four.
Disappointed with Babar and Mohammad Rizwan’s performance, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif fired an ultimatum and asked them to adapt or perish.
According to Latif, Babar made a massive mistake by accepting the captaincy offer from the Pakistan Cricket Board.
“See, after that World Cup that happened in India, things shouldn’t have gone like this. It’s their own thinking that they removed Babar, and Shaheen came forward, but then again, Babar became weak as a captain. Because whoever comes to lead should lead with confidence and it’s my opinion that Babar Azam’s biggest mistake was to accept the captaincy again. If he continues as captain, that will be an even bigger mistake by him. Pakistan has found a great batsman after so many years who is dominating the world; he shouldn’t get involved in this politics,” NDTV quoted Latif as saying on GTV Sports.
Apart from this, Latif asked Babar and Rizwan to leave the team for good or change their batting approach. He even cited examples of T20 World Cup champions from India – Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – who announced their retirement from the format after the final match on 20 June.
“I would give examples of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to show how they changed themselves. Rohit has changed himself 190 degrees; change is possible because he has become a role model. His IPL strike rate used to be 130-140, but this year it went up to 160. He changed himself. Virat Kohli did the same thing. If these two batsmen can change, then anyone can. I would give Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan 5 matches to change their batting approach in T20Is, and if they won’t, then there should be no place in the team for them,” he added.
Meanwhile, India lifted the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy after 17 years at Barbados.
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Published: 05 Jul 2024, 07:03 PM IST