ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Shahid Afridi Makes Bold Remark After Ramiz Raja's Comments On Pakistan Skipper Babar Azam Facing Pressure

In a recent interview, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja stated that Pakistan captain Babar Azam has told him about the pressure he feels owing to the immense criticism, of late. Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, however, shared his stance after Ramiz Raja revealed the pressure the skipper is facing.

Shahid Afridi lashed out at this remark, and at Babar for taking this pressure on him, and rather suggested believing in himself after all that he has achieved in world cricket.

Shahid Afridi Backs Babar Azam For His Prolific career so far

Ramiz had previously told Samaa TV, “Babar Azam often tells me ‘dekhiye hamaara kitna criticism hota hai’. I say to him, ‘be happy that cricket isn’t like any other sport in Pakistan where people don’t care about them’.” 

In an interview with the same channel, Afridi questioned the reason behind Babar taking so much pressure, which he opined was unnecessary given the plethora of runs he has already scored across formats, besides dominating the ranking charts in the ICC batting lists across all formats.

Reacting to Ramiz Raja’s comments Afridi emphasised, “Yaar kis cheez ka pressure? Itne peeche run pare huye hain. Kaunsa pressure? Mujhe toh samajh nehi aa raha hain. Haa time le raha hain, but mujhe nei lagta ki usse pressure ki zarurat hain. Uske itne performances hain. He is ranked what…no.1, 2 or 3, jaha par bhi hain woh top performer hain.

Babar Azam should continue playing his natural cricketing shots, reckons Shahid Afridi

Amid the ongoing criticism over Pakistan openers being conservative in their batting approach in T20I cricket, the legendary all-rounder suggested Babar and Mohammad Rizwan should focus only on playing “proper cricketing shots” rather than go for sixes.

“Agar woh pressure le raha hain toh zayadti kar raha hain. Pressure nehi lena chaiyein usse. Jo unke strokes hain, shots hain woh nehi rukna chahiye,” Afridi concluded.

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