'Worst Pakistan team I've seen' - Ex-England captain blasts Babar Azam's Men; calls for Mohammad Rizwan's axing

Former England U-19 player Azeem Rafiq has claimed that the Pakistani team under Babar Azam, has reached its lowest point.

Azeem Rafiq has become the latest voice his opinion against the Pakistani setup after the Men in Green exited the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The Babar Azam-led side were expected to get through to the Super 8s from Group A but back-to-back losses to USA and India made their scenario very difficult.

The Green Army did close the T20 WC 2024 on a high, thanks to wins against Canada and Ireland, but the sentiments are hurt. The wins against those two nations will not make up for the fact that they lost to first-timers and co-hosts USA, that too, from a winning situation.

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Babar Azam looked helpless when Pakistan lost to the United States in Super Over and things became much more agonizing after the loss to India. We can consider their loss to the USA as an upset but they had the game against Rohit Sharma's side in the palm of their hands.

It was not that the 2007 Champions snatched the victory but it was the Pakistanis who handed them. As Wasim Akram quoted to Star Sports, the team requires an overhaul and needs players who have good game awareness. Akram was critical of Mohammad Rizwan's bizarre shot selection as soon as Jasprit Bumrah was brought into the attack.

Other than Wasim Akram, the likes of Ramiz Raja and Waqar Younis among others had also slammed the team.

Azeem Rafiq joins list to criticize Pakistan and targets Mohammad Rizwan

Much like Wasim Akram, Azeem Rafiq targeted the entire Pakistani team, specifically Mohammad Rizwan. While Akram had slammed Rizwan for lack of game awareness, Rafiq made an admission about the opening batter not being good enough for modern-day cricket.

While speaking to an English outlet, Azeem Rafiq questioned the Pakistani system as to whether they want to improve themselves or not. He claimed that Mohammad Rizwan is not up to the mark when it comes to modern-day aggressive batting and also argued about his position in the senior team.

Azeem Rafiq believes that Babar Azam should be the one to play and not Rizwan as the former is Pakistan's only world-class batter currently. Rafiq concluded by adding that this is the worst Pakistani team that he has ever seen in a long time.

"Do you want to play like England and Australia, or improve? Rizwan's batting isn't suited for modern hitting. Only Babar or Rizwan can play and it must be Babar. He's Pakistan's only world-class player. This is the worst Pakistani team I've seen in a long time," Azeem Rafiq said.

Former 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 U19 captain Azeem Rafiq says this is the worst 🇵🇰 team he has seen in a long time 😯

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