Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has questioned Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s game plan in the 2022 T20 World Cup. He expressed that Babar Azam should think about the team first. Gautam opined that Fakhar Azam should be sent up the batting order rather than Babar Azam opening the innings.
Babar Azam has struggled to make an impact in the 2022 T20 World Cup. So far, he has scored only eight runs in three matches in the tournament. The right-handed batter was dismissed for a golden duck against India in their opening match. Pakistan is reeling at number five on the Group 2 points table, and one of the reasons for their poor performance has been Babar Azam’s run-drought in the tournament.
Former Indian skipper Gautam Gambhir feels Babar Azam should shuffle the batting order. Fakhar Zaman should be sent up the batting order, instead of the Pakistan skipper, expressed Gautam Gambhir. He said in the commentary box, during Pakistan vs Netherlands match,
“In my opinion, first, you think about your team instead of yourself; if nothing goes according to your plan, you should have sent Fakhar Zaman up the batting order. This is called selfishness; as a captain, it is easy to be selfish. It is easy for Babar and Rizwan to open the innings for Pakistan and create so many records. If you want to be a leader, you have to think about your team.”
All of these things begin at the top: Wasim Akram highlights areas of concern for Pakistan
Former pacer Wasim Akram also criticized Pakistan skipper Babar Azam. He expressed that the captain should not play for himself. Akram added that Babar Azam needs to learn to be ready to sacrifice himself for the team. He said as quoted by The Print,
“All of these things begin at the top. And at the top is your captain. If your captain plays for himself and is insecure. If your captain scores run and let other batters play at his position, you get to know that your captain is ready to sacrifice himself for you, this Babar has to learn.”
“I have been through this by the way with Babar, at Karachi Kings, yes. In the team, we had a couple of bad phases and I requested him once or twice nicely, that please come down at number 3, we’ll try something different. Let (Martin) Guptill bat at the top, seeing he is an opener. And he (Babar) said I would not go down, you ask Sharjeel to bat at 3, and he (Sharjeel) is a natural opener too. And these little things that the captain does, the team senses too,” added Akram.
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