"You can't do this tuk-tuking" - Kris Srikkanth brutally calls for Babar Azam's T20 cricket retirement

Former India cricket Kris Srikkanth took a brutal jibe at Pakistan skipper Babar Azam ahead of the team’s game against Ireland in the T20 World Cup 2024. He said that the opening batter should leave T20 cricket as he plays with a very low strike rate in the shortest format of the game.

Ever since Pakistan was eliminated from the T20 World Cup 2024, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has come under serious scanner in the tournament. Not only for his leadership, he also has received a lot of flak for his batting as well. 

Babar Azam in the T20Is has been receiving a lot of criticism for his slow batting. Not only this in this tournament, but the batter overall in the shortest format of the game has been often in talks for his slow strike rate as he takes time to get going. 

In a format, that demands batters to go after the bowlers right from the ball 1, Babar Azam takes some time to get going, which no doubt has cost Pakistan in posting big totals on the board. There’s no doubt about his ability but his range of shots isn’t much in T20s. 

In the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, Babar Azam has performed well below his ability. The opening batter didn’t look good in the game against the United States of America as he managed 44 runs in 43 balls and scored 13 runs against India. 

This has made Babar Azam come under the radar a lot. The captain in the first three games in the tournament complied just 91 runs at a strike rate of just around 104. His poor batting performance has seen the team struggling a lot in the tournament. 

On the captaincy front, Babar Azam's place as skipper has come under serious scanner. There have been calls to remove him as the captain of the team. Under his leadership, the team has lost games against the United States of America, which has been touted as the biggest upset in cricket. They then lost against India as well before winning the game against Canada but it was too late for them. This was the third time, they failed to reach the next stage.

"I don't think Babar should play T20 cricket”- Kris Srikkanth

As Babar Azam has struggled to get going in the ongoing T20 World Cup, former India cricketer Kris Srikkanth didn’t go easy on the Pakistan captain. He said that Babar Azam shouldn’t play T20 cricket as one cannot do “tuk tuk” in the tournament. 

He compared Babar Azam with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but criticized him for having a lower strike rate. Speaking to Star Sports, he explained: 

"I don't think Babar should play T20 cricket. I mean you can't do this tuk-tuking all the time in T20 cricket. They say Babar scored 4,000 runs like Virat or Rohit, but his strike rate is only 112-115 what are you talking about?".

Shots fired! 😯🗣️ Kris Srikkanth throws some serious shade at #Pakistan's skipper #BabarAzam, calling out his lacklustre strike rate in the T20 format! 👀

Do you agree with him?#PAKvIRE | LIVE NOW | #T20WorldCupOnStar #Kent #CricketLive pic.twitter.com/MiCfJY7ECJ

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 16, 2024