Lahore, June 14: Pakistan is having a disappointing T20 World Cup so far. Although they are still in contention for a Super Eight spot, they suffered one of the tournament’s biggest upsets last week when debutants the United States defeated Babar Azam’s team in a Super Over thriller. This was followed by another narrow loss to Team India, where Pakistan failed to chase a 120-run target in New York.
Captain Babar Azam is under significant scrutiny for both his leadership and batting performances in the tournament. After failing to impress as an opener against the USA and India, Babar moved to the No. 3 spot, bringing Saim Ayub to open alongside Mohammad Rizwan. However, the change did not benefit either player, as Ayub was dismissed for just 6 runs and Babar managed a run-a-ball 33 before being dismissed in the 15th over.
Following his lackluster performances in the T20 World Cup so far, Babar Azam has faced sharp criticism from Ahmed Shehzad. During a television show on Pakistan’s Geo News, Shehzad launched into a full-blown rant about Babar’s performances in T20 World Cups. The show’s broadcasters displayed Shehzad’s tournament statistics alongside Babar’s, revealing that Shehzad had a better strike rate and average than the Pakistan skipper.
“Your strike rate is 112 and average is 26. You haven’t hit a single six in 207 balls in the Powerplay. I admit I could’ve improved on my own performances 8 years ago, but your stats are even worse. You are worse than me, but you are king. You’re a fraud king,” Shehzad said, not mincing his words.
Shehzad didn’t stop at criticizing Babar’s performance; he also accused the Pakistan captain of “ruining” the country’s domestic structure to favor his friends and stated that Babar should apologize to the nation for failing to lead the team to ICC titles.
“He could not bring any trophy for Pakistan. After that you have ruined the entire domestic structure, you are such a captain, you cannot unconventionally run the domestic team to bring in your friends,” Shehzad said. (Agencies)
