"Why Blame Babar Azam Only When The Rest Of The Team Didn't Perform As Well" - Javed Miandad

Pakistan’s legendary cricketer Javed Miandad backed skipper Babar Azam despite the team’s poor performances in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2023. Javed Miandad emphasized that the captain is not solely responsible for the results, pointing out that the entire team underperformed.

Babar Azam‘s captaincy came under fire after The Men in Green finished at the bottom of the Super Four points table. They suffered a humiliating 228-run defeat to arch-rivals India and followed it with a final-ball loss to Sri Lanka in their last Super Four match of the continental tournament.

Why Blame Babar Azam Only – Javed Miandad

While speaking at a match during the 40’s Global Cricket Event, Javed Miandad expressed confidence in the team’s potential to perform better in the upcoming World Cup.

“Why blame Babar Azam only when the rest of the team didn’t perform as well in the Asia Cup matches against India and Sri Lanka. Look our team is not as bad as it played in the Asia Cup. It has plenty of potential to do well in the World Cup,” said Miandad.

Babar Azam led the Pakistan team in the last two editions of the T20 World Cup. He guided the national cricket team to the semifinals in the 2021 edition. Pakistan lost to England in the summit clash in last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

They Will Encounter Some Hostility – Javed Miandad

Miandad emphasized the importance of players quickly adapting to Indian conditions and the challenges of playing in front of large crowds.

“The only thing is how quickly our players cope and adjust to playing in Indian conditions before big crowds and in a country where they will encounter some hostility. The sooner this suspense about the final squad is ended the better it is for us in the mega-event,” added Miandad.

The selectors haven’t announced the 15-member provisional squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023, which is set to be played in India from October 5 to November 19. The team is expected to travel to India next week for the marquee tournament.

The Babar Azam-led team will play two warm-up matches in preparation for the World Cup. The Men in Green will face the Netherlands in their tournament opener in Hyderabad on October 6. The highly anticipated India-Pakistan match is scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad on October 14.