World Cup 2023: From Wasim Akram to Shoaib Akhtar, ex-Pakistan players slam Babar Azam after dismal show

Nothing seems to be going right for the Pakistan cricket team at the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup. They have lost three straight matches against India, Australia and Afghanistan, and there are reports of internal conflicts within the squad. Although the PCB released a statement saying everything was perfect inside the dressing room, these reports continued to find wings. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table Apart from all this, several former Pakistan cricketers have lashed out at captain Babar Azam and other players for their lacklustre performance in the tournament. The list of critics includes prominent names such as Wasim Akram, Misbah ul Haq, Ramiz Raja, Rashid Latif, Muhammad Hafeez, Aaqib Javed, Shoaib Malik, Moin Khan, and Shoaib Akhtar. All these former players have in varying variety found issues within the Pakistan cricket team. Aaqib Javed said that Shaheen Afridi should replace Babar Azam as the captain of white-ball formats since he has been a good leader for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL. Aaqib, who serves as the Director and head coach of the PSL team Lahore Qalandars, also criticised most players.

For Pakistan to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals, they now need to win all their remaining four matches against England, South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram was not impressed with the side’s subpar fielding and body language against Afghanistan. “The fielding and body language of the players was very poor and unconvincing (against Afghanistan). They just didn’t appear capable of defending 283 which is not a small total. The bowling was ordinary and the fielding levels were pathetic,” Akram said in a show on A Sports channel in Pakistan. Misbah ul Haq too slammed Babar’s captaincy, citing flaws in his bowling changes as well as field placements. He also said that Babar continued to use Haris Rauf in the powerplay despite the fact that Rauf bowled with no control. “He has wasted Haris Rauf by bringing him on in the power play when there are only two fielders outside the circle. Haris was hit in his first over (against Australia) and he lost all confidence,” Misbah said on the same show on A Sports. Former Pakistan all-rounder Abdur Razzaq said Babar Azam bats slowly in the middle order and hence, he disturbs the rhythm of the side and it has an effect on Pakistan’s strike rate in the tournament. “When Babar bats slowly it has an adverse effect on other batters who then can’t play their natural game and this is affecting Pakistan’s strike rate in this tournament,” Razzaq said. Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar too questioned the intent of Pakistan batters and compared it with the way Afghanistan openers started their innings and how they dominated the chase. “If you look at strike-rate of (Rahmanullah) Gurbaz, he was striking at 120-plus. Our whole team no one has strike-rate of above 90. Do you have any answer for that? I am trying to find answer to that,” Shoaib Akhtar told Zee News.