ICC T20 World Cup 2022: After Zimbabwe's defeat, former Pakistani players criticized Babar Azam's team selection

Posted by Xchange Tickets on October 28th, 2022

After Pakistan lost by a slim margin of one run to Zimbabwe in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, Shoaib Akhtar and Salman Butt severely criticized the current team selection.

Ex-players criticized the average mindset and team selection after Pakistan's shocking loss to Zimbabwe, which left the previous champions in danger of missing the T20 World Cup semifinals.

In their Thursday match against a lower-ranked Zimbabwe, Pakistan was unable to chase down 130. After losing by four wickets against India, Babar Azam and company suffered their second loss in as many games.

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Soon after, Babar, PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja, chief selector Muhammad Wasim, and head coach Saqlain Mushtaq came under fire on social media from supporters and former players.

"Very very embarrassing and disappointing," former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said.

“The fact is you have to play hard to even beat a team like Zimbabwe they wouldn’t be defeated by themselves. Our selections have been average and our mindset has been average and it has landed Pakistan cricket in this mess today,” he added.

Other former players also expressed disappointment and concern at the state of Pakistan cricket with some describing the defeat as hurting.

“Is this where our cricket has come to? We can’t score 130 runs against a low-ranked team like Zimbabwe. If this is our batting quality then God helps our cricket,” Former Test opener Mohsin Khan said.

The former head coach, who also served as chief selector, added that Pakistan didn’t show any intent.

“Zimbabwe bowlers were disciplined and persistent and it was clear they wanted to win this match more than us,” he said.

Test great Javed Miandad also questioned the player selection

“This is what happens when you allow the non-performing batter to remain in the team and keep deserving players out. 

"I have said it before international cricket is not a place for learning and unfortunately every time the team has done badly we have tried to sweep it under the carpet by saying they are learning,” Miandad said.

Miandad said that Pakistan’s approach to the chase was disturbing as no batter appeared to be geared towards finishing the match. 

“Seeing the way some of our batters threw their wickets away it was shameful because they are professional cricketers.”

Former captain Rashid Latif said Thursday’s result had left the World Cup wide open and made it more interesting. “It has become a very difficult situation for Pakistan now to qualify for the semifinals but overall it makes the tournament open and shows you can’t take any team lightly nowadays,” he added.

Ex-skipper and opener Salman Butt also slammed the team’s performance and also questioned Babar's captaincy.

"These players were not just equipped to play well in Australia and once Muhammad Rizwan and Babar Azam didn’t get going the writing was on the wall for us,” he said.

“I have been saying all along you don’t make someone a captain so that he can learn while playing and leading the national team. You only appoint someone as captain when you know he has the required leadership qualities to lead the other players well.”

Former Test spinner Iqbal Qasim said all the dreams of Pakistani cricket supporters and fans to watch their team play in the final of the World Cup had been shattered in just one match because of poor captaincy and a timid approach from the batsmen.

“It is a sad and disappointing day for Pakistan cricket to lose to Zimbabwe like this. Our cricket is not this bad that we should get such a result.”

ICC T20 World Cup 2022 | After Zimbabwe's defeat, Babar Azam defends the decision to use an additional pacer

In response to Zimbabwe's shocking Twenty20 World Cup victory on Thursday, Pakistan captain Babar Azam defended his choice to field a second fast bowler, but he also said that the 2009 champions were not up to grade overall.

The decision to include paceman Mohammad Wasim over hitter Asif Ali originally appeared to have paid off as he claimed 4-24 to limit Zimbabwe to 130-8, but Pakistan only reached 129-8 in 20 overs at Perth Stadium due to a batting collapse.

Following a heartbreaking last-ball loss to archrival India, it was Pakistan's second loss in as many games. To maintain their tenuous semi-final aspirations, they now have a game against the winless Netherlands on Sunday that they must win.

"It's very hard as a team or as a captain. We weren't up to the mark in all three departments, but we'll sit and discuss the mistakes and then we'll come back strongly," Babar said.

Babar said he did not think an additional fast bowler had left their middle-order weakened.

"This pitch required fast bowlers, so we had that in the planning and that's why we had an extra fast bowler," Babar said, before urging his team to regroup quickly.

"To be honest, it's hard, but we have two days and we'll have a sit together and discuss."

ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Shoaib Akhtar slams Pakistan over their shock loss against Zimbabwe and says, “Average mindset, average results”

Pakistan's heartbreaking one-run loss to Zimbabwe at the ICC T20 World Cup in the 2022 Men's T20 World Cup caused rumblings worldwide.

Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistani bowler, hit out at Babar Azam and company after Pakistan's heartbreaking one-run loss to Zimbabwe at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, stating he had anticipated such a thing would happen.

Notably, the former Pakistani bowler had already claimed that Pakistan may be eliminated right away. As Zimbabwe edged Pakistan by one run in a low-scoring thriller to win their first Super-12 game of the 2017 T20 World Cup on Thursday at the Perth Stadium, Pakistan's over-reliance on their opening batting partnership came back to haunt them.

Due to a batting collapse, Pakistan's bowlers were left to chase and win the game for them, but they botched up the meager chase. Sikandar Raza, an all-around player, quickly dismantled the chase by taking three wickets.

“That’s embarrassing, to be most polite!” he had tweeted first. He then followed it with his match analysis and said that nothing can be done on its own, one needs to put in the effort, he tweeted in Hindi.

“Agar Zimbabwe hai toh khud he ho jaaye ga sab kuch? Nahi, khud nahi hota, kerna parta hai,” he added in another tweet.

The former Pakistan pacer tweeted a video with the caption, “Average mindset, and Average results. That’s the reality, face it.”
The former pacer also called out the choice of players for the tournament and stressed the difficulty that the team may face in qualifying for the semi-finals.

In a video, he said, “Very very embarrassing. Keep on selecting average players and team management. This is the outcome. I am super disappointed. I mean losing against Zimbabwe? Now you are not even going to qualify with ease.”

Pakistan got off to a poor start in the game while chasing the mark as openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were wary of the new ball and only managed to score three runs from the first two overs. The first and second pitches were bowled by Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani, who both maintained tight lines while getting bounced off of the pitch.

To start the inning, Babar and Rizwan each hit a boundary in Ngarava's second over. However, the Pakistani captain was dismissed by Brad Evans in the fourth over, returning him for a pitiful score of 4. (9).

Rizwan did the same after Muzarabani sent him back for a 14(16), exposing the Pakistani team's middle order.

Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood, Pakistan's top scorers from the previous game, were at the crease as the powerplay came to a close at 28/2.

The partnership did not last long, though, as Iftikhar was dismissed by Luke Jongwe in the eighth over, further complicating matters for the Pakistani team.

Masood kept the scoreboard moving and led his team to 54/3 after the 10 overs while making some beautiful strokes.

Masood and Shadab Khan's batting partnership appeared to be enough to get the team over the finish line, but after the introduction of spinner Sikandar Raza in the 14th over, the story took an unexpected turn.

Raza turned the game in his team's favor by dismissing Shadab and Haider Ali in two straight deliveries, giving them a chance to win.

Masood, the designated hitter, became the third victim of Raza's off-spin in the sixteenth over as the Zimbabwean players began to think they had a chance to win. Wasim Jr., a tailender, joined Mohammad Nawaz for the run chase on this wicket.

When they sensed that victory was within reach, the pacers began to bowl with their tails up. Ngarava then delivered a 16th over for three runs to further put pressure on the Pakistani team.

The batsmen swung and missed under duress as they needed 29 runs from the final three overs. Nawaz made an effort to help his team cross the finish line by hitting a six in the 19th over to bring the score down to 11 from the remaining overs.

Brad Evans gave up a boundary on the second ball of the over, and it appeared as though Pakistan would win the game. However, Evans bowled brilliantly to get rid of Nawaz on the fifth ball, and he then maintained composure to defend three off the final ball to help Zimbabwe defeat Pakistan by one run.

Zimbabwe's batting lineup had earlier been subjected to a hail of bowling hell from Pakistani bowlers, who held them to just 130/8.

Mohammad Wasim Jr., Pakistan's additional pacer, had a huge impact on the team's performance, finishing with his best T20I bowling figures (4/24) and keeping Zimbabwe's total low. Brad Evans and Sean Williams contributed to the team's 100-run milestone.

Sikandar Raza's outstanding bowling effort earned him the title of "Player of the Match."

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