Babar faces heat: Livid ex-Pak players demand his axing after India debacle

Under-performing batting star Babar Azam found himself in the line of fire after Pakistan’s 61-run loss to bitter foes India in a T20 World Cup match as several former players in the country demanded his sacking alongside some other seniors. Former captain Babar, senior spinner Shadab Khan and pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi failed to come good in the lop-sided contest in Colombo on Sunday night. While the Pakistani bowling was taken apart by young opener Ishan Kishan (77 off 40), their batters were foxed by the combined might of India’s top pacers and spinners.

“If It was in my hands, I would not pick Babar, Shadab and Shaheen again in the T20 team. They have had plenty of chances to come through for Pakistan but failed again yesterday,” former captain Shahid Afridi said. Afridi said it was time to groom younger players in the format. While Shaheen was hammered for 31 runs in two overs, Babar was cleaned up by Axar Patel for five while attempting a slog even though his team was three down for 13 runs in a steep chase of 176.

Former skipper and batting great Javed Miandad was not even willing to speak elaborately on the loss but acknowledged that Pakistan’s cricket team has been unable to fight when put under pressure. “Bhai bade matches main hi players ko character dikhana padta hai, woh hamare players nahi dekha paye (In big matches, players have to show character.  Unfortunately our players didn’t show that character),” he said.

Mohammad Yousaf, another former captain who has always backed Babar, also said that the debacle should end the T20 careers of Babar and Shaheen.“Time’s up for Shaheen, Babar, and Shadab, Pakistan’s T20 squad needs new performers, not empty wins against weaker sides,” Yousaf posted on X. Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar, while speaking Indian news channel ABP, mocked babar’s superstar status here.

“You have made a superstar out of a player (Babar Azam) who cannot win you a game,” he said. “For the last 15-20 years, there has been no investment. The sad reality of the situation is that while we fought with India on the ground at one point, today we can’t even dream of beating them,” he added. Ahmed Shehzad, a vocal critic of Babar for a while now, felt Babar had played his final game for Pakistan in the format.

“Babar gone once again. Maybe it was his last dance to prove his worth in this format,” Shehzad wrote on X. The defeat has left the Pakistani cricket community despondent with several social media users also mocking the team by saying that perhaps the Pakistan government should have adhered to the boycott call in support of Bangladesh. “Would have been better if we had kept with the boycott,” posted several handles here.

Former captain, Moin Khan said perhaps it was time to accept that India were a far more superior side to Pakistan in any format right now.“We got our hopes up again this time but as a professional cricketer there was always that lingering feeling that the Indian players will come through when it mattered the most,” Moin said. Miandad said he was surprised to see Pakistan go with just one pace bowler in Shaheen Shah Afridi.

“Why didn’t they bowl (pacer) Faheem Ashraf. Playing six spinners what kind of strategy is this?” he wondered. Former captain Rashid Latif said Pakistan’s optimism ahead of the match was bolstered by its back-to-back wins in the previous two league games against lower-ranked teams — the USA and the Netherlands.

“”Look this time there were genuine reasons for the pre-match optimism. The team appeared to be adapting to modern day T20 cricket requirements and looked comfortable under the stewardship of (coach) Mike Hesson and (captain) Salman Ali Agha. But as usual we forgot how good this Indian team really is,” Latif said. “They are a big match team and every player is suited to his role. Unfortunately watching yesterday’s match it was obvious we got all our planning wrong,” he added.