PAK vs AUS: Gautam Gambhir has an advice for Babar Azam

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday shared a piece of advice for Pakistan captain Babar Azam ahead of his side’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 fixture against five-time winners Australia at Bangalore’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Pakistan will be heading into the fixture against Australia on the back of a seven-wicket defeat to hosts and arch-rivals India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Babar Azam’s side is currently placed fourth in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 points table with four points from three matches.

A victory on Friday will mean Pakistan will come close to qualifying for the semi-final stages.

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir, during a conversation with a sporting website, said Babar Azam should take responsibility of scoring quick runs early on as top three batters play with the same strategy.

Back in the groove 🏏 pic.twitter.com/VvpTTI4wtO

— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) July 4, 2023

“Pakistan have had a history of attacking batters – Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, Saeed Anwar, and Aamer Sohail,” he said. “In the present top three, everyone bats in similar mode. If someone has to take responsibility, it has to be their captain, who bats at No. 3.”

The former India batters said players are remembered only when they win trophies for the team. He said there is no point in Babar Azam becoming the leading run-scorer when he cannot lead them to victories.

“Wasim Akram took three wickets in the 1992 World Cup final. He did not pick up a five-fer, but everybody talks about it because they won the World Cup. Nobody talks about Mahela Jayawardene’s hundred in the 2011 final. Everyone remembers that India won the match,” he said.

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It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan captain (50) and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan (47) were the only batter who provided some resistance to the India bowlers in the lopsided fixture on Saturday.

Pakistan who were cruising at 155-2 at the end of 30th over and were on course to scored a 300-plus total. However, their batting fell apart when pacer Mohammed Siraj bagged the wicket of Babar Azam.

The side were dismissed for just 191 in 42.5 overs.

India captain Rohit Sharma led the chase with a blistering 86, and the two-time champions eventually romped home in 30.3 overs with seven wickets in hand to maintain their unbeaten record against Pakistan in the history of the tournament.