Wasim Akram has made a scathing attack on Pakistan batter Babar Azam, who scored a scratchy 64 off 90 balls against New Zealand in the opening game of the Champions Trophy at the National Stadium in Karachi on Wednesday. Centuries from Tom Latham and Will Young propelled New Zealand to 60-run victory over defending champion Pakistan.
“I don’t want 60 off 90 balls from my main player,” Akram said on the show “Dressing Room.”
“I’d rather have him getting 35 off 30 balls and get out instead of getting 64 of 90 balls. It’s not on in this day and age,” he said.
Akram lauded Salman Ali Agha, who scored a quickfire 42 off 28 balls.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam reacts as he walks off the field after his dismissal during the ICC Champions Trophy cricket match between Pakistan and New Zealand, in Karachi, Pakistan. (AP)
“Babar was the set batter but it was Salman who was taking the risk,” said Akram.
Mohammad Rizwan in the post-match production rued the fact that they didn’t have the right momentum at the backend of the bowling innings and at the start of the chase, the latter due to Fakhar Zaman’s unavailability to bat for a stipulated amount of time, due to an injury he picked up in the afternoon. It was only compounded by the fact that Babar Azam was on 12 off 27 balls after the first 10 overs, with Pakistan on 22/2. It wasn’t even a case of accelerating after getting set, as Babar didn’t score a single boundary between overs 15.1 and 32. His final strike rate of 71.11 was nowhere near enough for Pakistan.
Babar’s struggling knock finally ended in the 34th over when he top-edged a sweep against Santner as Pakistan continued to lose wickets with regular intervals before eventually getting bowled out with 16 balls to spare.
