"That's not cricket anymore" - Shahid Afridi's stern warning to Babar Azam's Pakistan after T20 World Cup disaster

Former Pakistan cricket Shahid Afridi has called for a change in approach from the Pakistan batters to excel in the shortest format of the game. The legendary allrounder's comments have come in the wake of Pakistan's dismal campaign in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024.

The Men in Green bowed out of the T20 World Cup at the group stage after suffering losses against the USA and India. Their batters were under the scanner once again for struggling to score quickly. While conditions were definitely not easy for batting in the USA, Pakistan's batters hardly showed any intent of scoring quickly.

Both of their main batters - Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan - struggled with the strike rate. While they finished the competition as Pakistan's highest run-scorers, their runs did not really change their team's fortunes. Babar scored 122 runs at a strike-rate of 101.66 while Rizwan scored 110 runs at a strike-rate of 90.90.

Shahid Afridi's advice for the Pakistan team:

Following Pakistan's struggle in the T20 World Cup, Shahid Afridi has said the batsmen need grooming in order to become capable of doing well in modern-day cricket. The former cricketer stated that cricket has changed and Pakistan players cannot rely on scoring a run-a-ball. He said that Pakistan cricket needs to be developed to do well in these times.

"No, no, there is talent. They just need some grooming. Cricket has changed," said Shahid Afridi.

"If you think you can score 40 runs in 40 balls, that's not cricket anymore. Now it needs to be developed," he added.

Shahid Afridi said "There's no room for players who score 40 off 40 balls in T20 cricket anymore"

Well said, Lala. We need to change our mindset and approach otherwise we'll lose to USA again 🇵🇰💔💔pic.twitter.com/mOB9Axvirr

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) July 3, 2024

Coming to the T20 World Cup 2024, India won the tournament with a win over South Africa in the title decider. The Men in Blue beat the Proteas by 7 runs in the final to win their second T20 World Cup and first since 2007. 

India ended the competition with a hundred percent winning rate. In the group stage, they beat Ireland, Pakistan, and the USA to qualify for the Super 8s. In the Super 8s, the Rohit Sharma-led side beat Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Australia before thrashing defending champions England by 68 runs in the semifinal to qualify for the final for the first time since 2014.