Legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi has questioned why Babar Azam is feeling under pressure after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja made some surprising revelations about the current skipper ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Recently, Raja revealed that Babar told him that he was feeling pressured due to the immense criticism he and the Pakistan cricket team have been facing in recent times. Ramiz Raja had told Samaa TV: “Babar Azam often tells me ‘dekhiye hamaara kitna criticism hota hai’. I say to him, ‘be happy that cricket isn’t like any other sport in Pakistan where people don't care about them'.”
Following the PCB chief’s revelation, Afridi wondered why Babar is taking the pressure on him, suggesting he should believe in himself. Speaking on the same channel, Samaa TV, Afridi asked the reason behind Babar taking so much pressure, as he has been doing extremely well.
Shahid Afridi said on Samaa TV: “Yaar kis cheez ka pressure? Itne peeche run pare huye hain. Kaunsa pressure? Mujhe toh samajh nehi aa raha hain. Haa time le raha hain, but mujhe nei lagta ki usse pressure ki zarurat hain. Uske itne performances hain. He is ranked what...no.1, 2 or 3, jaha par bhi hain woh top performer hain. Agar woh pressure le raha hain toh zayadti kar raha hain. Pressure nehi lena chaiyein usse. Jo unke strokes hain, shots hain woh nehi rukna chahiye. (What's the pressure? He has scored so many runs. What pressure? I don't understand. Yes, he is taking his time, but I don't think he needs pressure. He has so many good performances. He is a No. 1, 2 or 3 ranked player; he is a top performer. If he is taking pressure, then he is doing injustice. He should not be under pressure. His strokes, or shots, should not stop.)”
The former Pakistan skipper further suggested Babar and Mohammad Rizwan to focus only on playing “proper cricketing shots” rather than going for sixes.
He concluded, “Unka partner, Rizwan, bhi aacha hain. Par agar soch yeh hain ki samne wala run kar raha hain aur main thoda time le lu toh woh negative soch hain. Hume dono batsmen se chakke nehi chahiye. 36 balls hain. Agar proper cricketing shots bhi khele toh 50-55 runs th waise hi ban jayega. (His partner, Rizwan, is also good. But if your thinking is that your partner is scoring runs, then if I take some time, then this is a negative thought. We don't want sixes from both the batsmen. Even if they play proper cricket shots, they can score 50-55 runs easily.)”
