Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has failed to do justice with the No. 1 ODI batter tag in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India.
Despite playing in batting-friendly conditions, the right-hander has registered scores of 5, 10, 50, 18, 74, 50 and 9 in seven innings. In particular, his below-par strike rate of 77.69 has drawn him a lot of flak from fans and experts alike
After his most recent failure versus Bangladesh in Kolkata, former Pakistan cricketer-turned-commentator Ramiz Raja questioned Babar’s prowess against spin bowling.
Ramiz claimed that Babar doesn’t feel comfortable while facing spinners at the start of his innings. The Pakistan captain has been dismissed by the spinners five times in this World Cup.
The likes of Colin Ackermann, Adam Zampa, Noor Ahmad, Tabraiz Shamsi and Mehidy Hasan Miraz have been able to take his wicket.
According to Ramiz, Babar needs to start playing the sweep shot on a regular basis to tackle quality spin bowling.
“If you want to find fault in his batting, it’s his batting against spin upfront when he starts the innings. He is not fluent as he is when he is facing pace. I don’t know whether it’s his footwork whether it’s in his mind, or whether he doesn’t have too many options because he doesn’t play the sweep shot. On slow pitches, you need to play the sweep shot,” Ramiz was quoted as saying to Star Sports.
“Every time he has been aggressive, he’s gotten out as well. Against Afghanistan, he hit a massive six and then got out just at the wrong time. So the confidence builds and it goes flat,” he further said.
“All he needs to do is work his way through to a hundred where he faces pace, spin, and feels comfortable about his role. He is not entirely out of touch, he is still middling the ball, but it’s that when he begins his innings against spin, he looks just a little bit jittery,” Ramiz added.
Babar Azam has also failed to make a mark as a captain in the Cricket World Cup 2023. Under his leadership, the Men in Green have lost four out of seven games and they are dependent on other teams to qualify for the semi-finals.
