After Men in Green lost consecutive games in the competition, former India opener Gautam Gambhir criticised Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s leadership.
Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in the rain-drenched Super Four stage match on September 14 and was thus eliminated from the 2023 Asia Cup. Using the DLS technique, the team captained by Dasun Shanaka won the match by two wickets, securing their spot in the final against India.
“For me, captaincy is also very commonplace. Zaman Khan’s over over mid-off and Shaheen Shah Afridi’s over over mid-off both had four hits, and both of those deliveries were slower, according to Gautam Gambhir, who spoke to Star Sports.
The former Indian cricket player thinks that the field decisions made by the Pakistani captain during the crucial game were incorrect. He said that the 28-year-old should understand that he is not expected to search for wickets in the final few overs.
Keep the mid-off fielder at long-off and bring the third man up if you wish to bowl slower pitches. This is really basic captaincy. It would have been challenging for Sri Lanka if there had been 13 runs left in the final over, the 41-year-old continued.
At one point, you were allowing the game to lag: Gambhir Gambhir continued to criticise Babar Azam’s leadership throughout the 100-run stand between Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama. Babar should have been more suitable for his position, he continued, as ODI cricket differs from T20 cricket.
“At one point, you were allowing the game to lag. You aimed to satisfy the requirements for your sixth bowler. That’s not how things turn out. You need to have brought on your key bowlers and attempted to get wickets when Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama started to play together.
Only by taking wickets could Pakistan have prevailed in this game. Sri Lanka could have won earlier than they did if they had continued to bat all the way through. Since ODI cricket is different from T20 cricket, Babar Azam will need to be a little bit better in his captaincy, in my opinion, he added.
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