IND vs PAK: "Pakistan Should Have Bowled India Out Inside 40 Overs Itself" - Shoaib Akhtar Takes A Dig At Babar Azam's Captaincy
Published - 03 Sep 2023, 05:58 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:18 AM
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Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar took a dig at Babar Azam’s captaincy during the match against India in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. Shoaib Akhtar emphasised that Pakistan could have bowled out the opposition inside 40 overs if they had continued with pacers.
Pakistan pacers troubled the Indian batters with the new ball, restricting them to 66/4 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, September 2. However, spin bowlers picked wickets in the middle overs and allowed the Indian batters to settle at the crease.
Babar Azam Needs To Be More Aggressive – Shoaib Akhtar
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Shoaib Akhtar suggested that they should have persisted with their fast bowlers by giving short two-over spells from one end with spin from the other end.
“Pakistan fast bowling has done wonders. Pakistan should have continued with pacers with short two-over spells from one end and operate spin from only one end,” Akhtar said.
“Pakistan should have bowled India out inside 40 overs itself. Pakistan should have capitalized after reducing India to 66-4. Babar Azam needs to be more aggressive as a captain,” he added.
Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya added a 138-run partnership for the fifth wicket to help the team reach a decent total. The Pakistan pacers picked up quick wickets in the last overs to bowl the opposition out for 265 runs.
Babar Azam Allowed India To Prosper – Aakash Chopra
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra pointed out that Babar Azam missed a trick by giving more overs to spinners in the middle, which allowed Indian batters to settle at the crease.
“Babar Azam got his spinners to bowl 21 overs when the opposing team was 66/4. You had 30 overs of fast bowling. I think he missed a huge trick and because of that, he allowed India to prosper,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“It’s good, we don’t mind, but Pakistan should actually look inwards and say that there was a captaincy error. The fist was closed and you opened it and when you try to grab it again, it becomes slightly late,” he added.
Babar Azam used Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, and Agha Salman as three spinners, but they failed to pick any wickets. All ten wickets in India’s innings were taken by the pace bowlers.
Bowling Changes Didn’t Make Any Sense – Sunil Gavaskar
Former India great Sunil Gavaskar was also not impressed with Babar Azam’s bowling changes in the high-octane encounter in Pallekele.
“I think the bowling changes didn’t make any sense because if you have three bowlers, the pace bowlers have taken the early wickets, you want to keep at least one ongoing from one end.
I know that you can’t really go through long spells, but one person could have been bowling from one end and Shadab or Nawaz from the other end,” Gavaskar said.
The Men in Green advanced to the Super Four stages of the tournament as the match against India was abandoned due to rain. They are currently leading the Group A table, which consists of India, and Nepal.
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Aakash Chopra Babar Azam IND vs PAK 2023 India vs Pakistan 2023 Pakistan National Cricket Team Shoaib Akhtar Sunil Gavaskar
