"This is why we call them unpredictable"- Virender Sehwag crushes Babar Azam and Pakistan for their show vs Ireland
Pakistan ended its T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a victory over Ireland in Florida. Pakistan started the match brilliantly by reducing Ireland to 32-6 at one point. Left-arm quick Shaheen Afridi produced a sensational opening spell and picked up 3 wickets. Although, Ireland found a way to reach 106-9 in 20 overs.
Chasing 107 to win, Pakistan started sedately with Mohammad Rizwan and Saim Ayub taking their time in the middle. But true to its nature, Pakistan found a way to put themselves in a spot of bother. They were reduced to 62-6, with skipper Babar Azam still at the crease.
But Babar Azam maintained his composure and stayed unbeaten on 32 off 34 balls to steer Pakistan past the finish line. Fast bowlers Abbas Afridi and Shaheen Afridi also played useful cameos down the order
Virender Sehwag slams Pakistan's tactics against Ireland
Former India opener Virender Sehwag took a dig at Pakistan's tactics and questioned the camaraderie between the players. While speaking on Cricbuzz, Sehwag raised questions about the team's dressing room atmosphere.
"This is why we call them unpredictable, you can never tell if they will play well or poorly. In this World Cup, they have been poor more often. I don't know what their dressing room is like. If things are fine between the players. That also plays a role," Sehwag said.
Sehwag believed that Pakistan took way too many balls against Ireland to chase down the target.
“If there are players who are unhappy with the captain or if there are two or three groups within the dressing room and so on, that also plays a role, but I say you have to keep those things to the side and think for Pakistan. This match shouldn't have gone on for so long. But fine, at least they won it,” the former India opener added.
Sehwag also went on to slam Babar Azam and his approach towards T20 cricket. Babar finished the T20 World Cup 2024 with 122 runs in 4 matches at a strike rate of 101.66.
Sehwag advices Babar Azam and Co.
“Now Babar Azam and the others have to go back and think about what the way forward is in the T20 format. This team may not be able to win matches against a good team even when they get a good wicket,” he opined.
“They have to play differently from the way that Babar Azam plays if they want to play in the next T20 World Cup, that is for sure. There are a few players who play with the same strike rate which is not good enough for T20. They have to find those players with high strike rates, whether it be from the PSL or domestic cricket," he concluded.
Pakistan had a dismal campaign in the T20 World Cup 2024 where they lost their first two games to USA and India. They were eliminated from the tournament after the match between Ireland and USA was washed out. Meanwhile, India and the USA qualified for the Super Eight stage from Group A.
