(Credit Reuters)
Legendary Pakistan legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed has voiced his steadfast support for team captain Babar Azam despite Pakistan’s disappointing campaign in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024, held in the West Indies and the USA.
Pakistan endured a challenging tournament, exiting in the group stage following defeats to the USA and India in their initial matches. Despite rallying to victories over Canada and Ireland in their subsequent games, they fell short by a single point behind the USA, who made history by advancing to the Super 8 stage.
Following their premature exit, several former cricketers and analysts have scrutinized the team’s lackluster performance, with many directing criticism towards captain Babar Azam for the team’s underwhelming showing.
Mushtaq Ahmed comes out in support of Babar Azam
In a conversation with Cricket Pakistan, Mushtaq Ahmed commended Babar Azam for his renewed batting approach, noting significant changes since the previous year. However, Ahmed expressed strong criticism towards the team’s other batsmen, emphasizing their failure to accumulate sufficient runs.
“Babar’s intent has definitely changed in the past year. He has shown aggression in his batting. If a person can improve so much, I think that’s enough. Other players also have a duty to score runs; they have a role to play too. If one person gives you a score, but the rest of our players don’t go on to score in the remaining 7-8 overs, then there’s a problem,” Mushtaq Ahmed said.
The legendary legspinner also remarked that this narrative has been unfolding over the past few years.
“This has been happening for 3-4 years. They (other players except Babar) only score when it doesn’t make a significant impact,” he added.
Mushtaq Ahmed also urged people to show respect towards Pakistan’s captain, emphasizing that he represents the country’s pride and honor.
“If we talk about Babar, there’s a reason why people respect him worldwide. He brings honour to Pakistan. I think sometimes people are very hard on him,” said Mushtaq.
In the T20 World Cup 2024, Babar Azam led Pakistan’s batting with 122 runs across four matches, achieving a strike rate of 101.66. Despite being the top run-scorer for his team in the tournament, his relatively lower strike rate has been a point of scrutiny for some time.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Rizwan, another key batter for Pakistan, accumulated 110 runs in four matches at a strike rate of 90.90, prompting further questions about the team’s batting order. Rizwan stood as the second-highest run-getter for Pakistan in the competition.
Recently, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi indicated that the decision on Babar Azam’s captaincy would hinge on consultations with former cricketers and head coach Gary Kirsten. This comes after Babar relinquished the captaincy following Pakistan’s disappointing performance in the ODI World Cup 2023, with Shaheen Afridi assuming the role. However, the team’s subsequent loss in a T20I series in New Zealand led to Babar’s reinstatement as captain, displacing Shaheen Afridi, a decision that stirred controversy among former cricketers who felt Shaheen deserved more time to prove himself in the leadership role.
