Babar Azam intentionally failed against India, alleges Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has blasted veteran T20I batter Babar Azam for his lack of intent to make a comeback in the shortest format of the game after his dismal show against archrivals India in the ICC T20 World Cup group stage.

Pakistan faced a humiliating defeat after having agreed to play against India in the ICC T20 World Cup group-stage game. The Pakistan team had the records not going their way with a 7-1 advantage for the Men in Blue, and now their reputation is further hampered as the margin has been widened to 8-1 in T20 World Cups.

Pakistan's only T20 World Cup victory against India came back in 2021, and since then, they have been hunting for their next win. The Pakistan side also lost the three successive matches in the Asia Cup against the Indian side.

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Babar Azam's major upset in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026

As Pakistan made subtle changes to their squad and welcomed a bunch of spinners to their side ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, they were expected to stage a tough fight against the Indians in their match at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Despite the tough bowling deck, India managed to score 175 runs in their 20 overs. Following this, the Pakistan batting order, constituted of Babar Azam, flopped as they lost the game by a huge margin.

Babar Azam failed to contribute to their innings, as Axar Patel bowled it around the off stump, and the veteran missed a sweep on a length. His stumps were rattled, and the veteran was once again dismissed without making any promising impact on the game.

"Aap Maula Jatt banke to team nahi chala sakte na," Shoaib Akhtar teams up with Indians to blast Babar Azam

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar believes that Pakistan veteran Babar Azam is done with the format. He has given up hope on the cricketer, and so he has ended their debate.

"Jo usne product banna tha wo ban gaya Babar, thik hai, nazar aa raha hai, ab uspe kya mein debate karun. Ab aapke paas intention hi nehi hain thik hone ki; Aap Maula Jatt banke to team nehi chala sakte na. Ye le aao, wo le aao, ye karlo, waisa karlo, T20 to nehi hoga na. (The product he wanted to become has been made out of him, Babar. Okay, it's visible, so why should I debate it now? Now, if you don't even have the intention to be okay, you can't run the team if you just be a 'Maula Jatt.' Get this, get that, do this, do that, T20s can't be played this way)," said Shoaib Akhtar.

Akhtar demeans Babar, calling him worse than tailenders

The former pacer further suggests that Babar Azam is no longer fit for the longer formats, and Pakistan needs players who carry both awareness and intelligence alongside the skillset to play such formats.

"With some bit of skills and some amount of fitness, you can play the T20 format but in the longer format one needs awareness and intelligence as well. Being a method as well as an aware cricketer is crucial to the longer formats; where would Pakistan bring this from," Akhtar questions.

He then once again slammed Babar alongside the other Pakistan batters, as he said that even during his time, players, including tailenders, used to be taught to play on a run-a-ball basis.

"During the 1980s and 90s, when club cricket used to be played, even they used to teach how to play on a run-a-ball basis. Even our tailenders are aware of that," Akhtar's scathing attack on the veteran Pakistani batter.

“Babar per mai kya debate karu (What should I even debate about Babar?)”

~ Shoaib Akhtar pic.twitter.com/eBiVReXq4i

— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) February 15, 2026

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