Following Pakistan’s embarrassing loss to Zimbabwe in T20 World Cup, which came right after they conceded a game from winning position to arch-rivals India last Sunday, the nation’s pace legend Wasim Akram blamed the team’s captain Babar Azam for poor planning leading to the tournament Down Under.
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“We all know as sportsmen that winning and losing is part of the game but this was always on the cards,” Akram told A TV on Friday. “We knew for over a year what was the schedule for World Cup and that we needed a fast-bowling all-rounder for it par koi majaal hai kisi ne koi taiyyari ki ho (but nobody cared to prepare for it). This includes the captain and chief selector (Mohammad Wasim). You included all-rounder Aamer Jamal for England series but you didn’t take him to Australia.”
Aamer was one of the finds of the England vs Pakistan seven-match T20 series as his death bowling abilities came to light on debut when he stopped England from scoring 15 runs in the final over in the fifth T20 at Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium. The right-arm pace bowling all-rounder bowled four overs in two matches during the series while picking a wicket for 43 runs.
The 56-year-old legend continued to vent his anger on Azam for lacking leadership qualities that included preparing for Australian conditions while mocking the team to take Gaddafi’s pitch to the World Cup if they are finding it too hard to adjust.
“This is the captain’s job, it should be his vision on how to build a team for the World Cup keeping in mind the pitches. (Pointing at the anchor) As you said the pitches were difficult and if they are difficult then take Gaddafi’s pitch to World Cup and play on it.
“There is a lot of planning that goes into the World Cup, you needed an all-rounder who can bowl as the fifth bowler and you had Faheem Ashraf and Amir Jamal for it. You had a year to prepare them. You had a mystery spinner in Abrar (Ahmed), who has been doing amazingly well at the first-class level and was included in the squad for England series but wasn’t played at all over seven games,” said Akram, who took 916 international wickets between 1984 and 2003.
The former Pakistan pacer further felt that senior Pakistan players were so eager to play cricket that they didn’t give enough opportunities to youngsters to have a stronger squad for the World Cup and the onus for the same falls on Babar again.
“I don’t understand why main players are so eager to play all the match. Often you rest the senior players and use the youngsters to have options for the Wolrd Cup. All this is captain’s job, coaches are there to help the captain and you have to lead them by picking players of your choice but now we are down to prayers and ifs and buts again to stay alive in the World Cup. I hope I am wrong and I wish Pakistan qualify but it seems like we are out of the World Cup,” concluded Akram.
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