Pakistan concluded their 2024 T20 World Cup journey with a tense three-wicket victory against Ireland in their final Group A match held in Florida. Despite this win, their earlier shock defeat to the USA and loss to India resulted in their elimination from the tournament. Pakistan's players, including captain Babar Azam, faced significant criticism for their underwhelming performance throughout the competition.
Former India cricketer Kris Srikkanth voiced strong criticism towards Babar Azam's role in T20 cricket. "Captain Babar Azam. I don't think he should play T20 cricket. Maybe a good Test cricketer. This is my opinion. Frankly speaking. You can't do all these tuk-tuking all the time," Srikkanth said on Star Sports.
Although Babar recently surpassed India's star batsman Virat Kohli to become the leading run-scorer in the T20 format, Srikkanth argued that this achievement is overshadowed by Babar's less impressive strike rate. "You talk about stats - 4000 runs Babar Azam, 4000 runs Virat Kohli, 4000 runs Rohit Sharma. His strike rate is 112-115. What are you talking about?" Srikkanth added.
In the match against Ireland, Babar played a vital role, scoring an unbeaten 32 and helping his team avoid another embarrassing loss in their final game at the T20 World Cup. Shaheen Shah Afridi was pivotal, claiming three wickets and hitting two sixes to secure the win for Pakistan at the Central Broward Stadium.
"We have a good bunch of players. We've to go home, chat and see where we lack, and then come back. Couldn't finish off close games, as a team we weren't good as a team," Babar said in the post-match presentation.
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