NEW DELHI: Pakistan had a disastrous
T20 World Cup
campaign as they faced an early elimination after two back-to-back group-stage defeats at the hands of the USA and India, respectively. Despite scoring 122 runs in four games, Azam has had to face severe criticism due to his moderate strike rate of just 101.66.
Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, former Pakistani cricketer
Mushtaq Ahmed
drew a comparison between Indian cricket stalwart
Virat Kohli
and Azam while defending the latter's batting approach.
He said, "That (taking time) is his strength. Virat Kohli bhi time leta hai, woh konsa time nahi leta (Virat Kohli also takes time, he is also the same). If you put aside the last two or three matches,
Rohit Sharma
was scoring 20-25 runs. But I have seen a change of intent in Babar's game. He has become more aggressive.
"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. This has been happening for 3-4 years. They (other players) only score when it doesn't make a significant impact," the Pakistani veteran spinner added, emphasizing that improvement in Azam’s game should be widely acknowledged.
Mushtaq Ahmed opens up in support of Babar Azam | T20 World Cup 2024 | Cricket Pakistan
Following recent setbacks, the
Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) has prioritized strategic planning for upcoming tournaments and series. The PCB aims to leverage the expertise of
Jason Gillespie
and
Gary Kirsten
, white-ball head coach, to formulate effective strategies for the
ICC Champions Trophy
scheduled for February-March next year.
In preparation for this major tournament, Pakistan will play a series of challenging fixtures. A five-Test home series against Bangladesh and England will be followed by a white-ball tour of Australia. Subsequently, the team will travel to South Africa for a comprehensive series encompassing both Test and white-ball formats.
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