‘If captain is a selfish player….’ – Former India cricketer slams Pakistan skipper Babar Azam – Times of India

Pakistan captain Babar Azam continues to be a subject of criticism after the team’s flop show in two consecutive ICC tournaments — the ODI World Cup last year and the just-concluded T20 World Cup.

Among the latest to slam Babar is ex-India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel, who accused the Pakistan captain of putting his self-interest ahead of the team’s interest.

Babar opened the innings during the T20 World Cup but failed to leave an impact, leading to an argument why a usually more effective and free-flowing opener Fakhar Zaman was pushed down to No. 4.

“Captain wanted to open, so he (Zaman) had to come down. If the captain is a selfish player, there’s no chance,” Parthiv said during a talk show, a video clip from which went viral on social media.

“There’s nothing new in it. Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, everyone says that,” Parthiv added.

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The former India stumper went on to add that Pakistan don’t currently have the batsmen who fit into the T20 format.

“They don’t have players; they don’t have T20 kind of players. The way cricket is going right now, we are talking about strike rate of 150-160 and these guys are still in the 120s. They are far behind than any other international side,” reckoned Parthiv.

Babar was reinstated as Pakistan captain after he had stepped down following the team’s poor show in the 50-over World Cup in India last year. However, his replacement, fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, was removed from captaincy after just one series, as Babar was put back in charge by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

However, Pakistan made an early exit from the T20 World Cup as well, after an upset defeat against USA and losing to archrivals India in the initial group stage of the tournament.

India went on to win the tournament undefeated, beating South Africa by seven runs in the final.