Wasim Akram blasts Babar Azam for captaincy blunder

• Pakistan suffered their fourth consecutive loss in the ICC World Cup 2023.
• Former captain Wasim Akram criticized Babar Azam’s decision.
• Wasim felt that Usama Mir should have been given the crucial over.

Following Pakistan’s fourth straight loss in the ICC World Cup 2023, former captain Wasim Akram spoke out on Friday and called attention to a huge error made by Babar Azam during the match against South Africa in Chennai.

Wasim, who captained Pakistan in the World Cups of 1996 and 1999, contended that it was a mistake to give Mohammad Nawaz the 48th over when the Proteas needed just six runs off of eighteen balls with one wicket left. Usama Mir, who replaced Shadab Khan due to a concussion, was bowling well and had already claimed two wickets.

“When Nawaz got that over, Usama had two overs remaining at that time. He was bowling better as well. He was going to baffle the tailenders with mystery googly or leg spin. Yes, I agree that his first three to four overs were not up to the mark, but he [came back] took two wickets for 45 runs,” Wasim said on a local sports show.

“Other than this, the captaincy was fine. You [Babar Azam] used main bowlers and got the wickets but I couldn’t understand why Nawaz bowled there. He didn’t have the confidence and he was bowling above his shoulder, which means his ball would drift down towards the leg side. I think that was a massive mistake by the captain that you don’t use your main bowler — who was taking wickets.”

The Pakistani bowlers, Wasim said, manufactured a game out of nothing. He gave specific respect to Wasim Jr., who was playing in his debut World Cup encounter, saying he bowled bravely and continued to trouble the Proteas hitters.

“In the end, they made a game out of it, Pakistani bowlers. Haris bowled his heart out, it was good to see Wasim making an impact in that game because he has got the talent, we all knew that, he didn’t get a consistent chance but today he did well with pace, troubled the batters as well,” he added.

South Africa emerged victorious, defeating Pakistan by a single wicket following a thrilling match. With 10 points and a respectable net run rate (NRR) of 2.032, they topped the World Cup points standings.

That marked Pakistan’s fourth straight loss in this historic tournament, marking the first time they had dropped four games in a single World Cup.

Pakistan’s chances of making it to the event’s semi-final are now all “ifs and buts” since, even if the Green Shirts win their final three games against Bangladesh, New Zealand, and England, they would still need to rely on the outcomes of other teams, which is extremely unlikely.

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