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Pakistan's losing streak in the ongoing World Cup 2023 continued in Chennai on October 27, Friday, when South Africa stole a one-wicket win over Babar Azam's men to hand them their fourth consecutive defeat in the tournament. This was the first instance when Pakistan suffered four straight losses in World Cup history. South African jolt jeopardised Pakistan's chance of making it to the World Cup 2023's semifinals. Babar-led Pakistan's nightmarish performance has come under scanner and has been receiving a lot of flak from cricket pundits and legendary Pakistani cricketers.
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As the team continues to disappoint in the ongoing World Cup, Pakistan's legendary all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez tore into Babar Azam for his shoddy captaincy. According to Hafeez, even after helming the team for close to three years, Babar still has room for growth in his captaincy. Hafeez also said that Babar's captaincy lacks maturity and expressed his reservation against calling him a great player.
"When it comes to Babar's captaincy, that maturity isn't quite there yet. He has been in charge of the team for three years and the tactical growth hasn't been there either. When he's called a great Pakistan player, then I have doubts over it. Those who say that probably haven't seen greats of the game - from Pakistan and around the world. Yes, he is a very, very good player. He is not great yet. He has to prove a lot of right things - and there are stages yet to come in his career. We are putting a tag on him before he's reached those stages. That's pressure on him, and when he's not able to perform in big tournaments, the load of expectations is so high, that people then deal it in a wrong way," Hafeez said on PTV Sports.
Hafeez went on to advice Babar to learn the knack of captaincy from Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who believes leading the team from the front.
"If Babar thinks that the pressure is getting the better of him or it has affected his game, then he has to make the whether he wants to continue like this or finish his career like of some of Pakistan's greatest players. Right now, he is the captain of Pakistan, so it we should back Babar. But, he has to improve his game, in terms of aggression. Rohit Sharma has been successful because he is leading from the front," he added.
Ranked the world's No.1 ODI batsman, Babar hasn't scored a single hundred so far in the World Cup 2023. He has amassed just 207 runs in six matches, including three half centuries. The weight of his underperformance has affected Pakistan's overall showing in the tournament.
With just two wins and four defeats under their belt Pakistan will seek redemption when they face Bangladesh on October 31.
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