As the Pakistan cricket team has wrapped up its disappointing exit from the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, former cricketers and experts have slammed the team for the bad performance, insisting that captain Babar Azam should not be the only one to be blamed.
As the players have started returning home, they are getting bombarded for their poor performance by reporters at the airport, with no cricket fans in sight. As Babar Azam landed in Lahore on Sunday, there were only a group of reporters waiting for him.
Pakistan’s performance has irked the fans, who have raised serious questions over the captaincy of Babar Azam and the team at large. Cricket experts and former player have also slammed the team and its overall performance, which they said, lacked quality and composure through the World Cup.
However, they emphasizes that targeting Babar Azam for everything, is inappropriate. “There’s so much pressure on Babar that he may leave the job. Babar was in depression because of the reaction he saw targeting him, his captaincy and performance from Pakistanis," said former cricket-turned-commentator Ramiz Raja.
“While the people have targeted certain players, the media has also targeted some players with severe criticism. It’s just a World Cup so you have to take the heat somehow. The problem with this team is it has the potential to play modern-day cricket but they have been a bit shy and timid with their approach."
Cricket legend and king of swing bowling Wasim Akram said that the whole team’s performance and the system in place is to be blamed for the team’s bad performance. “The captain alone is not playing the game. Yes, he did make captaincy errors in this World Cup and in the Asia Cup as well.
But he isn’t alone to blame. This is fault of the entire system for the last one year or more where the players don’t know who is the coach. You cannot make him scapegoat." “The lack of resources and street-smartness from the captain Babar, lack of intent had been the reason we have only won games against small teams," said former player Shoaib Malik.
“End of a disappointing campaign for Pakistan. They never got going really at any point. Clear lack of intent was visible. A lot needs to be done, but even for that, intent is important first," he added. It is believed that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will do an overall review and it is likely that Babar Azam will be removed as captain .
The Pakistan team’s performance during the World Cup has disappointed many as the players never looked like in the right phase of preparedness and planning to take on high-scoring games. The captaincy of Babar Azam also seemed to be lacking focus and mental strength to lead the team.