Pakistan cricket team suffered an embarrassing exit from the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup 2024. They faced defeats at the hands of co-hosts United States and their arch-rivals Team India, which led to their failure in qualification for the next round. Their performance was under the radar for massive criticism throughout the mega tournament. Even former Indian pacer Varun Aaron did not hold back and slammed both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. He even said that the Pakistan skipper never performs in big tournaments against big teams.
Varun Aaron slams Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan
Varun Aaron said that the Pakistan team is way too much dependent on Babar and Rizwan and both of them have let them down. He slammed Babar Azam and said that the Pakistan captain always fails to perform in big tournaments when his team needs it the most.
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"They are dependent on Babar and Rizwan, and both Babar and Rizwan let Pakistan down. There are talks about Babar, especially, before every big tournament, but Babar Azam never scores runs in a big tournament against a big team. Your main player needs to stand up against big teams," said Aaron during a discussion on Star Sports.
"If you see India, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya always put their hands up and say that they will play against big teams and take the pressure moments. I think no batter in the Pakistan lineup wants pressure moments. They are running away from pressure. They will have to face pressure head-on if Pakistan cricket has to progress," Aaron added.
Strike rate criticism
During the same discussion, former Mumbai wicket-keeper batter Aditya Tare criticised Babar and Rizwan for their strike rate. He even said both of them as openers put their team on the backfoot.
"It was an extremely disappointing performance, especially from the Pakistan top order. Both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are their best T20 batters. However, the sort of strike rate they have, of course, the conditions were slightly difficult for batters, but their strike rates didn't go above 130 even leading into the World Cup," said Tare.
"As a top-order player, that can harm your team a lot. If we see world-class teams like Australia, India and England, their openers have strike rates close to 150. However, if you are batting at a strike rate of 125 as an opener, you are putting your team on the back foot," he added.
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