Pakistan bowed out of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 with a humiliating 93-run defeat at the hands of England in Kolkata on Saturday (November 11).

It was Pakistan’s fifth loss in their nine league games and the Men in Green finished the campaign at fifth place in the standings, just above Afghanistan on the basis of a superior net run rate.

After this dismal show, Babar Azam and his men are receiving flak from the fans, former cricketers and experts alike.

Speaking on A Sports, former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik also slammed the current players for their lack of professionalism.

“Travelling are excuses. The whole world is travelling. Look at India’s calendar. Their pacers didn’t lost pace and swing. It is the professionalism, which is missing in our team,” Malik said.

“You ask half of them and they would not know how to recover. In the recent past, we didn’t had any ingredient, which can help you to get rid of cramps. We saw that in case of Maxwell, they gave him some gels and he played with severe cramps. It is all excuses. Travelling doesn’t matter,” he added.

Considering the failures of Pakistan’s big names such as Babar Azam, Haris Rauf and Sheheen Afridi, Malik also advised the selectors to field second-string side when touring teams are not sending their first-choice players.

“They should make a rule that if the travelling team has sent their B squad, make sure that our B players are facing them for the sake of their development,” said Malik.

Shoaib Malik was also critical of Babar Azam’s captaincy style, stating that the latter has been laid-back in his approach.

“Lack of resources. No street smartness from the captain. We have only won against small teams.

“He is captain for the past three years and there is no improvement,” Malik stated.