The Pakistan team continues to attract criticism from the cricket fraternity and fans after their early exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup. Babar Azam and Co. had a forgettable campaign as they were knocked out from the group stage after suffering a defeat to the USA, a non-Test playing nation, which was followed by another loss against arch-rivals India in Group A. The Green Army faced scrutiny from all corners for their underwhelming show, as many asked for a transition in the side and a change in captaincy.
The Pakistan players are now trying to forget the embarrassment of the T20 World Cup and have started training for the upcoming cricket season. A video went viral on social media, where a few Pakistan players were seen doing fielding drills. However, they once again became the butt of jokes after the fans saw them doing catching practice on old mattresses. The PCB once again came under scrutiny for their low standards and poor infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s conservative batting approach was exposed at the ICC event as their premier batters, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, struggled to get going in tricky batting conditions.
Babar has been put under the scanners for Pakistan’s below-par show under his captaincy in the last two white-ball ICC events.
Several former Pakistan cricketers didn’t shy away from bashing Babar’s batting approach in the shortest format and bashed the ones who compared him with legends of the game in the past.
After theirexit from the T20 WC, Babar spoke about his future as Pakistan’s white-ball captain. Babar assured everyone that he would “openly” tell everyone if he decided to step down as the skipper yet again.
“Secondly – about the captaincy – when I had left it, I thought that I shouldn’t be doing it now, that’s why I left it, and I announced it myself,” Babar said in the post-match press conference.
“Then when they gave it back to me, it was the decision of the PCB. When I go back, we will discuss all the things that happened here. And if I have to leave the captaincy, this decision, I will tell you openly. I will not announce anything behind the scenes. Whatever happens, will happen in front of you. But for now, I have not thought about it. The decision is of the PCB,” he added.