Former cricketer Shoaib Malik made news with his statements about Pakistan captain Babar Azam after the side’s historic defeat against Afghanistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 fixture at Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium.
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Pakistan, batting first, scored 282-7 on the back of captain Babar Azam (74) and opening batter Abdullah Shafique’s (52) half-centuries. Vice Captain Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed scored handy knocks of 40 each.
Afghanistan registered their maiden ODI win over Pakistan as they successfully chased a 283-run target in 49 overs. Ibrahim Zadran (87), Rahmat Shah (77), and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65) anchored the side to win with their fifties.
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Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik lambasted Babar Azam’s leadership in the A-Sports show ‘The Pavilion’. He said the prolific batter was the main reason for the side’s defeat.
He added that Babar Azam is a quality player but not a good leader.
His fellow panellist and former wicketkeeper Moin Khan seconded Shoaib Malik’s statement by saying that Babar Azam has led Pakistan for the past four years but his leadership and decision-making have not improved.
Legendary cricketer Wasim Akram thought otherwise. According to him, the whole side and the management were to be blamed.
Pakistan landed themselves into a predicament following their loss to Afghanistan. The side are in fifth position in the points table with two wins and three losses from five matches.
They have to win all the remaining ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 fixtures against South Africa, Bangladesh, 2019 New Zealand – to whom they lost in the warmup match – and defending champions England to keep their chances of reaching the semi-finals alive.
