Captain Babar Azam and his team are facing intense criticism after an unexpected early exit from the tournament. Concerns are also being raised about Babar Azam’s captaincy. He was reinstated as skipper before the tournament.He had relinquished the captaincy following a poor ODI World Cup campaign last year.
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In a post-match press conference after the game against Ireland, Babar addressed the captaincy issue. He stated that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would review the campaign at home and decide on the team’s future leadership. Babar emphasized that his reinstatement as captain was a decision made solely by the PCB.
“As far as captaincy is concerned, when I first stole, I felt I should not do it anymore, so I stole. I had announced it myself. Whatever has been given back, that is PCB’s decision, they have given it. Now we will go, we will sit and discuss whatever has happened here and this decision will be taken later… when I have to steal, I will tell it openly, whatever happens will happen in front of everyone. I have not thought about it yet. Whatever decision is taken, PCB will take it,” Babar said.
Babar expressed his disappointment regarding the team’s early exit from the T20 World Cup. He acknowledged that the team as a whole failed to perform rather than pointing fingers at individual players. He noted that the team struggled to synchronize their performances; when the bowlers performed well, the batting lineup faltered.
“We are more sad than you are. Players, management, everyone is sad. We could not play the kind of cricket that was expected. We could not perform as per the kind of players we had. So in my opinion, we did not play well as a team. It is not that we lost because of one person. We lost as a team. We did not click as a team. Sometimes we did well in bowling, sometimes we did not do well in batting,” Babar added.
While discussing the conditions, Babar admitted that the pitches slightly favored fast bowlers, but the primary issue was their batting failures in critical moments. He pointed out that losing wickets back-to-back put them in a difficult position in crucial matches.
“The pitches here were helping the fast bowlers a bit. Our batting didn’t click. When things came in our hands, we lost wickets, due to which we lost two crucial matches. We were getting ahead, the pressure was on the other team but when you lose back-to-back wickets, the pressure comes on you,” Babar said.
The Pakistan skipper’s comments reflect a broader team failure rather than individual shortcomings. His focus is now on returning home and having thorough discussions to determine the way forward for Pakistan cricket. The future of his captaincy remains in the hands of the PCB, and a decision is expected after the campaign review.
