Babar Azam has shown aggression in batting, sensationally claims Pakistan great as he blasts other players
Legendary Pakistan legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed has come out in support of the team's captain Babar Azam despite Pakistan's poor show in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024, played in the West Indies and the USA.
Pakistan had a poor tournament and crashed out of the group stage after losing to the USA and India in their first two games. The Men in Green won their last two games against Canada and Ireland but were left one point behind the USA, who created history by reaching the Super 8 stage.
After their early elimination, many former cricketers and experts have criticized the team for their poor performance. Many of these players have held the team's captain Babar Azam responsible for the team's dismal performance.
Mushtaq Ahmed comes out in support of Babar Azam
During a chat with Cricket Pakistan, Mushtaq Ahmed praised Babar Azam's intent and believes he has changed his batting since last year. Instead, Ahmed lashed out at the team's other batters for not scoring enough runs.
"Babar's intent has definitely changed in the past year. He has shown aggression in his batting. If a person can improve so much, I think that's enough. Other players also have a duty to score runs; they have a role to play too. If one person gives you a score, but the rest of our players don't go on to score in the remaining 7-8 overs, then there's a problem," Mushtaq Ahmed said.
The legendary legspinner also stated that the story has been going on for the past few years.
"This has been happening for 3-4 years. They (other players except Babar) only score when it doesn't make a significant impact," he added.
Mushtaq Ahmed also called for people to show some respect towards Pakistan's captain as he is the country's honour.
"If we talk about Babar, there's a reason why people respect him worldwide. He brings honour to Pakistan. I think sometimes people are very hard on him," said Mushtaq.
Babar Azam at T20 World Cup 2024
Babar Azam scored 122 runs in four matches in the T20 World Cup 2024 at a strike rate of 101.66. He was the highest run-scorer for Pakistan in this tournament. His low strike rate has been under the scanner for some time.
Pakistan's other strike batter Mohammad Rizwan scored 110 runs in four matches at a strike rate of just 90.90, which raises further questions on their batting order. Rizwan was the second-highest run-getter for Pakistan in the tournament.
Recently, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi claimed that a decision on Babar Azam's captaincy will be taken after consultation with former cricketers and head coach Gary Kirsten.
Babar Azam left Pakistan's captaincy after the team's poor performance in the ODI World Cup 2023. Shaheen Afridi was appointed the new captain but the team lost a T20I series in New Zealand.
But Mohsin Naqvi brought back Babar as the captain and removed Shaheen Afridi from the role to everyone's surprise. The decision was criticized by former cricketers who claimed that Shaheen should have been given some more time to prove himself in the role.
