Babar Azam "I don't want to be a dummy captain"

[Savak]

I worry about the pressure on Babar:

Pressure of being the main run-getter
Pressure of leading in all 3 formats
Very little support around him

It's bound to take its toll.

Tbh what Babar needs is the kind of support Stephen Flemming got in his reign as NZ captain from 1997 to 2007. Flemming was leading NZ in all 3 formats, was their main batsman but he was lucky that he was the captain of a country which was not cricket crazy so win, loss, draw there was not much scrutiny and players were allowed to play their games and go through the evolution process calmly.

Was reading a Zaheer Khan interview where he talked about how and why county cricket helped revive his career. He commented that playing for India has pressures involved from various stakeholders i.e. fans, media, reporters, ex players and selectors where you have to perform or go packing and there is no space, room to actually learn and work on your skills. The environment in county cricket was the complete opposite where win, lose, draw, each day was a new learning day and you were able to focus on Cricket and thoroughly enjoy it with zero pressure.

Leading a team like Pakistan where there are just not enough quality players or leading players who are still not set, established and require loads of experience under their belts and where the pipeline of players coming through in a very poor domestic cricket structure is not good enough, is not going to be a piece of cake for any captain or coach. Therefore Babar actually needs that Stephen Flemming kind of support and reign which he will not get being in a Cricket mad country like Pakistan.

 

[Savak]

Rizwan needs to be the captain

Please, Pakistan got thoroughly hammered under his leadership in NZ. Changing a captain or coach can only do so much, the overall players in the squad and the ones in the pipeline via your academies and domestic cricket are just not good enough.

 

[Saurav]

Please, Pakistan got thoroughly hammered under his leadership in NZ. Changing a captain or coach can only do so much, the overall players in the squad and the ones in the pipeline via your academies and domestic cricket are just not good enough.

In Tests? You seriously expected him to beat NZ in NZ? Thats virtually impossible for any Asian side today.Even India got thrashed.As tough as beating India in India for a SENA team

Rizwan recently won PSL so certainly showed leadership quality,whereas from what I learnt Babar was not even captain for his franchise.

Changing captain can have significant impact as we saw with India in 2007.Rizwan is one of the few certainties and can certainly be given charge of LOI sides.

 

[MRSN]

Baber looks a different bat after getting captaincy. Looks like added pressure is not doing him any favour. Might be a short stay at captaincy for him but then again there doesn't look like any other good candidate either. God we are really short of talent or genuinely good cricketers. All we have rockstars or mediocre players.

 

[MRSN]

In Tests? You seriously expected him to beat NZ in NZ? Thats virtually impossible for any Asian side today.Even India got thrashed.As tough as beating India in India for a SENA team

Rizwan recently won PSL so certainly showed leadership quality,whereas from what I learnt Babar was not even captain for his franchise.

Changing captain can have significant impact as we saw with India in 2007.Rizwan is one of the few certainties and can certainly be given charge of LOI sides.

Agreed. He might be the best choice we have. Baber can't captain and bat well at the same time and we need him to bat well as we are really short of batting prospects.

 

[IMMY69]

I honestly don't think he has it in him to captain the side.

Make Rizwan captain and let Babar concentrate on making runs

 

[Saurav]

Agreed. He might be the best choice we have. Baber can't captain and bat well at the same time and we need him to bat well as we are really short of batting prospects.

Babar is a wonderful batsman but lacks the confidence/swagger that captains need

 

[Saj]

I just wonder whether giving him the pressure of captaincy in all 3 formats will hinder his progress in the long run.

Perhaps a better option might have been to just have him as captain in the white-ball formats.

 

[kingusama92]

He captains well in bursts.

That's okay at the lower levels but not so much against international teams.

Since Babar's man-management skills are essentially zero, he has to be 100% effective with his on-field decisions. Unfortunately, he has too many brain fades during games and that exposes the team even more.

I don't think there's a better option available right now, so they just have to keep working with him.

 

[Sher Khan]

Misbah-ul-Haq vs Babar Azam : Who is the captain?

It absolutely annoys me to see Misbah fronting up and having animated chats with the umpires, when Babar should be the one taking the lead and sticking up for his team.

I can also guarantee you it was Misbah's decision to declare. Not Babar's. Babar doesn't have the personality to make an authoritative and aggressive decision.

Can you honestly imagine Shastri and not Virat Kohli fronting up and taking the charge. Kohli would have absolutely drilled the umpires and groundstaff on their shenanigans on the start of day 3. You would have seen him pacing around everywhere nagging everyone to hurry up.

Whereas our Babar is never seen anywhere. He just grins and says "all good". A player as good as him should take the charge and showcase his presence.

 

[Ab Fan]

Babar is still young and needs some time in this role before he starts playing the tough man game. He is not an outspoken or aggressive personality so it doesn't come to him spontaneously. He will have to evolve this and it will come with time.

Pakistan fans should give him a lot more time before they start expecting ruthless aggression from him. If you have to set any expectation or benchmark for him, then Joe Root is a perfect example for him than Kohli.

His personality is similar to Root, he is also playing in a weak batting lineup like Root, his game style is also similar to him and if he can learn to carry himself as batsman like Root does for England, that should be great for him.

Root is as great a test batsman as Kohli, so the bar isn't low too and he has more similarities to Root than to Kohli.

 

[Saj]

You have to wonder how long this can continue before something gives way.

 

[iniqbal223]

I really dont understand "Pressure" in our context that is overused
These are professionals and should be capable of doing their work, aren't they?

Pressure only comes in intense matches ; if you are playing intensely competitive game like WC Final, etc. (NZ vs England WC 2019 Final, that was pressure game)

It feels our players in last few years (along with our previous coaches Misbah and Waqar) used the word pressure (even against Zimbabwe) just as an excuse

 

[Amjid Javed]

I just wonder whether giving him the pressure of captaincy in all 3 formats will hinder his progress in the long run.

Perhaps a better option might have been to just have him as captain in the white-ball formats.

There are no other options for test captaincy at moment, very few players make current side on merit alone so on that basis who could be given the captaincy?

 

[Asher]

Babar Azams captaincy so far leaves a lot to be desired. He seems like one who'll wait for things to happen. Doesn't look like he has any control in the middle. Tactically not the brightest.
However, I'm glad he's captain at the domestic level and and he cam only get better from here. The next step should be for him to get PSL captaincy.

 

[ARK Rafay]

Some speech by Babar

 

[heddie19]

where are his haters now?
He has been doing a fantastic job as a captain in all formats.

 

[shamaan]

Very good captaincy proberly could have given hafeez or Imad another over thou.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Next steps in Babar's captaincy - Risk.

Higher Risk = Higher Reward/Ranking.

Selection Risk: Letting go of comfort zone with old timers and starting to groom new players. Giving them confidence to perform. Dahani, Ghulam, Saud Shakeel etc are next in line.
Batting Risk: Particularly in modern white ball cricket. Is he happy to get 175 or is he willing to risk a 140 to get to 200? In white ball cricket, this high risk approach occasionally loses you games but can mean the difference between making a semi final vs winning a final. It also applies to red ball cricket where you are willing to bat aggressively and declare early to win extra ranking points.
Bowling Risk: Are you willing to deviate from set plans in order to try things such as match ups: for example bringing in fast bowler in middle overs for someone susceptible against it? or try off spin against left hander? Are you willing to put in a slipper in the middle overs to support an aggressive bowler?

Pakistan has a good thing going with existing plans, particularly after winning several series or doing well in others. But a bit more risk may mean taking that little extra step to be counted consistently in the top 3.

 

[MenInG]

Not clear why he waited so long for Shaheen when he could have easily killed the innings earlier?

 

[MenInG]

Gaining popularity now.

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[MenInG]

Mohammad Rizwan on Babar's issue with a Pepsi Ad:

The Pakistan opening batter started off with an element of suspense not revealing much about the incident, but he eventually lifted the lid off the topic, calling it a 'sacrifice'.

"He recently made a sacrifice. While shooting for an ad, he was demanded to do something strange. Ok fine, I will tell you. During a Pepsi ad, while the Ramadan was on, he was asked by the management to drink the beverage but he said he can't do it. Babar threatened to walk out of the Pepsi ad. He said he will leave the commercial but not do this. It may be a small matter but he was willing to make the sacrifice. The offer he was made should be in front of everyone. So, when someone is ready to let go such an offer for his integrity, it speaks volumes of his greatness," revealed Rizwan.

The commercial was eventually completed with the two parties coming to a mutual conclusion.

 

[MenInG]

Done well for a 'dummy' ...

 

[shaz619]

Done well for a 'dummy' ...

A top 4 finish would be good for Babar in the WTC, although you could argue a top 2 with Pakistan’s fixtures, this is a golden chance which may not come for a while

 

[Forum363]

Mohammad Rizwan on Babar's issue with a Pepsi Ad:

The Pakistan opening batter started off with an element of suspense not revealing much about the incident, but he eventually lifted the lid off the topic, calling it a 'sacrifice'.

"He recently made a sacrifice. While shooting for an ad, he was demanded to do something strange. Ok fine, I will tell you. During a Pepsi ad, while the Ramadan was on, he was asked by the management to drink the beverage but he said he can't do it. Babar threatened to walk out of the Pepsi ad. He said he will leave the commercial but not do this. It may be a small matter but he was willing to make the sacrifice. The offer he was made should be in front of everyone. So, when someone is ready to let go such an offer for his integrity, it speaks volumes of his greatness," revealed Rizwan.

The commercial was eventually completed with the two parties coming to a mutual conclusion.

This is confusing.

Pepsi asked him to break his fast and drink Pepsi? I find that very hard to believe. If so, as a big corporation they should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[TheSultan]

Done well for a 'dummy' ...

The amusing thing is his pic in the poster shows someone who looks like a dummy!

 

[arif_2021]

The amusing thing is his pic in the poster shows someone who looks like a dummy!

‘Looks like a dummy’?

I’m sorry what exactly is he supposed to look like in your opinion? Bill gates?

 

[arif_2021]

It doesn’t mention his century against SA after pakistan chased down 220 plus

He was captaining also

 

[Slim]

Leading from the front - if we win a worldcup under him, it will easily put him as the best player Pakistan has ever produced.

 

[Nasty Naz]

When was the last time Pakistan were top 5 in every format? They are under Babar.

Babar may not be the most brilliant tactician but he has been excellent as captain. Feels like after forever, Pakistan finally have a relatively stable side and while collapses happen, they don't happen quite as often under Babar. He has also taken some bold & aggressive decisions like we saw in WI & Bangladesh to win those Test matches. There's still areas to continue improving but it finally feels like Pakistan are headed towards the right direction.

I think the most important job Babar has down is keeping the dressing room together. Often an overlooked area but we have seen those toxic it can be but it certainly doesn't seem that way right now.

 

[Snowflake]

This is confusing.

Pepsi asked him to break his fast and drink Pepsi? I find that very hard to believe. If so, as a big corporation they should be ashamed of themselves.

There is no way Pepsi would ask someone to break their fast for an ad-shoot. Our players will say and do anything to drum up the religious sentiment!

LOL @ "threatened to walk away" )

 

[Forum363]

There is no way Pepsi would ask someone to break their fast for an ad-shoot. Our players will say and do anything to drum up the religious sentiment!

LOL @ "threatened to walk away" )

Maybe it’s because he doesn’t drink Pepsi as an athlete…. Which is both admirable and hypocritical since he’s endorsing it.

Although I suppose he individually has little choice as they’re huge sponsors.

 

[Slim]

There is no way Pepsi would ask someone to break their fast for an ad-shoot. Our players will say and do anything to drum up the religious sentiment!

LOL @ "threatened to walk away" )

Are you saying Rizwan just made up a story? He has more credibility than Sarfraz fans.

 

[mudassir84]

Maybe he is showing too much power by retaining Hassan and azhar ali in the side. Only area for improvement is to be ruthless in selecting right players.

 

[MenInG]

Imad asking Babar not to be a dummy captain in our latest interview:


==

PakPassion.net: Is your constant exclusion from the Pakistan side putting a strain on your relationship with Babar Azam?

Imad Wasim: I have absolutely no issues with Babar Azam as he is the captain of Pakistan and a world-class player as well. But I do feel that he has to take an interest in these matters too because he will be leading the Pakistan side for a long time and what is happening with me in terms of selection can also happen to him, Mohammad Rizwan or some other player too. Babar is doing a great job as Pakistan captain at this time, but he has to take control of selection matters and become more accountable because at the end of the day, he is the one leading the team on the field and such issues will affect his team’s results. Babar is an excellent captain, and I am sure he will look deeply into this situation.

 

[daytrader]

Babar the captain imposing his authority today

 

[Zaz]

Strange tactics today Taking off his opening bowlers when they has the sri pankans on the backfoot

And then not bowling them out

 

[Seen Sheen]

I have to say Babar's value is going downhill fast - his no-show with the bat can be an aberration but it's his unimaginative and terrible tactics, together with his borderline nepotistic decisions, that are setting this team back.

His poor and shambolic decision to take Hasnain off when the ball was swinging and Lankans being clearly rattled confirms that he is a dummy captain indeed. He just brings a plan from the dressing room and implements that irrespective of the game situation in the bowling innings, which is :-

Rotate the fast bowlers so that two of them bowls two overs and one bowling one
Give last over of PP to Nawaz
Then bring Shadab
Bowl both of them through till 12-13 over
Bowl pacers for the rest with maybe one over of Shadab in between

Every now and then, he would make a tactical deviation from that plan but largely this is the template he follows.

It's quite remarkable how dumb he can be; I think even a club level captain would have bowled Hasnain out in the first 7 overs today but he not only removed him from the attack but also brought Hasan by not giving Haris second consecutive over.

It's not only this blunder. He has done similar mistakes throughout his captaincy tenure and it is clear that this guy is not a good tactician at all. I still can't believe he failed to complete Imad's quota considering how well he had comeback after Warner was gone and how limited Wade/Stoinis generally were against spin.

Shadab probably is miles ahead of him as a captain in my opinion in limited overs.

 

[Ahsanax]

People on this forum seriously need to relax, its just 4 innings that he didn’t perform with the bat and about the his bowling changes, it was on point almost every match. So take it easy guys

 

[Slim]

Throughout this tournament, Babar has been making some top notch out of the box decisions which have lead to our success.

Starting from sending Nawaz in the second Indo-Pak Asia cup match, to sending Shadab in the Afghanistan match, to giving Ifthikar an over out of nowhere leading to a wicket in the final. He keeps on impressing.

The team hasnt looked this united, this spirited since forever! He has showcased to be a top top captain!

 

[Saj]

Good move to bring Ifthikar on today.

Even the Sri Lankans weren't expecting that.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

A captain overusing a part-timer after his first wicket in two years. Leaking runs the spinners

 

[Saj]

Overdid the Ifthi experiment and allowed the Sri Lankans to settle in.

 

[Sher Khan]

Overdid the Ifthi experiment and allowed the Sri Lankans to settle in.

Saj, I dont think he overused Iftikhar. I think he made a mistake by bringing Hasnain back for his third over, when he had already conceded 19 in 2 overs. Also surely Nawaz is injured?

 

[Grunge101]

Well he's being a "dummy" captain right now. Raja averages 65 against spin and 25 against pace, he's allowed to settle in.
Why were Rauf and Shah kept for 16-20 overs when we had them 67/5 inside 10?.

 

[Grunge101]

Saj, I dont think he overused Iftikhar. I think he made a mistake by bringing Hasnain back for his third over, when he had already conceded 19 in 2 overs. Also surely Nawaz is injured?

Shah/Rauf should have been brought in in Ifti's place straight away. You have them 5 down, go for the frikkin kill.
Now he has Rauf back with both batters well settled in and ready to launch.

 

[Grunge101]

There you go, Rauf gets Hasaranga. This could've been achieved in the 10th over minus 50 additional runs.

 

[Saj]

Still no Nawaz today despite him being one of the best bowlers of the tournament.

 

[Saj]

Saj, I dont think he overused Iftikhar. I think he made a mistake by bringing Hasnain back for his third over, when he had already conceded 19 in 2 overs. Also surely Nawaz is injured?

Agree about Hasnain and brining him back.

Should have brought Rauf back then.

 

[Grunge101]

This is mind-blowing to be honest. Nawaz is on now while Iftikhar who hasn't bowled in the whole cup gets 3 overs

 

[Grunge101]

Agree about Hasnain and brining him back.

Should have brought Rauf back then.

The mentality is to get the problematic overs out of the way , never once thinking about going for the kill. Even with 5 wickets down inside 9 overs, Babar was thinking about who would bowl the 19th and 20th.

 

[Saj]

Babar Azam as skipper needs to go for the kill when the opportunity is there. Sri Lanka were 58 for 5 but he gave Iftikhar Ahmed 2 more overs and brought back Mohammad Hasnain instead of Haris Rauf or Naseem Shah.

 

[Saj]

Mohammad Nawaz has taken 8 wickets and has an economy-rate at the Asia Cup of 5.89, yet he only bowled 1 over today.

What was Babar thinking!

 

[ethan hunt]

Very poor captaincy today.
Nawaz is a wicket taker in the middle and bowled just 1 over. Took off pacers too early to.

 

[IMMY69]

Very poor captaincy.

It was a car crash waiting to happen.
How anyone defend the decision to not bowl Nawaz earlier and then only give him one over which only went for 3 runs?!??

 

[ethan hunt]

Anyone can get hit at the death.
Why allow the game to go so deep. Rubbish from babar.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

He should resign if he fails with the bat today. Tweet merchant

 

[Grunge101]

1) focusing on getting overs out of the way rather than getting them out after 60/5. Raja was basically enabled to settle in and then have a dash afterwards.

2) Not bowling Ifti throughout the tournament.

3) bowling Nawaz for 1 over when he's been your best bowler.

4) 3 fielder collisions, surely the captain also needs to be questioned as to why nothing was done about this after the first time?

These are all very valid questions that need to be asked

 

[SpiritOf1903]

BE GONE AS CAPTAIN!. Time for more cringe tweets

 

[asfandyar]

Babar decided to continue with Hasnain in the 13th over when he had gone for 19 in 2. He gave just one over to Nawaz who went for only 3 runs.

In the previous match he played Usman Qadir instead of Haider Ali. In the first match against India, he gave the last over to Nawaz. Babar is a brilliant batsman but an awful captain (at least in T20).

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Nawaz would be great matchup vs Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa averages only 16 at a SR of 115.94 vs left-arm spin.

Your best bowler in this Asia cup bowled just one over.
It's really poor from Babar Azam.

 

[Grunge101]

Wasim and Gambhir making the same point in the com box. Why were the pacemen not brought back in place of Ifti.

 

[The_KING]

If Pakistan lose this match, it is Babar’s fault.

At 58-5, SL shouldn’t have got more than 120 max. The ended up with 170. Why? Because he kept on Iftikar. Ifti uncle took a wicket in the first over but it doesn’t mean he should have bowled three overs. Nawaz who has been our best bowler in the tournament bowls just one over which went for only three runs. And rubbish like Hasnain bowled his full four overs.
Why didn’t Rauf and Naseem come earlier?

Babar is a horrible captain. Previously, he kinda got away with criticism because he was performing with the bat. Now, he isn’t doing that so he has got nowhere to hide. He needs to be removed as a captain in one format, at least.

 

[Grunge101]

The silver lining in all this is that his favourite Ifitikhar might have played his last game for Pakistan today.

But then it's Pakistan. Wishing for logic is often in vain

 

[faz]

Big occasion, Asia Cup final and Babar’s captaincy out in the field has been found again to be severely lacking. To say his captaincy is timid would be an understatement.

Absolutely zero match awareness or proactiveness shown today. With both Naseem and Rauf bowling so well up front, reducing Sri Lanka to 3 down with under 40 on the board, Babar was only thinking about leaving 2 overs for each at the end of the innings. Staggering considering how Haris Rauf had Rajapaksa hopping around.

With arguably the bowler of the tournament in the middle overs up his sleeve in Mohammad Nawaz, Babar was too scared to bring him on due to a left handed batter being out there in the middle. That too with Sri Lanka being 5 down for 60 runs. You’d think prime Brian Lara was out there batting!

There was no sense of attacking Sri Lanka as they were reeling with 5 down and not much on the board. Babar seemed in a hurry to bowl through as many overs of innocuous spin from a bowler he hadn’t gone to all tournament thus far in Iftikhar Ahmed.

Babar’s captaincy has definitely cost us the trophy.

 

[shah_1]

You are not a dummy captain but a captain without much captaining brain. Garbage captain

 

[Seen Sheen]

Today's captaincy (or lack of) has confirmed that this guy is not captaincy material at all. People say Azhar Ali was one of the worst captains but he also had one of the worse teams to captain post-2015.

This guy has probably Pakistan's best fast bowling attack since late 90's and he has single-handedly let this tournament slip through his utterly embarrassing and shambolic decisions on the field. Even in test series against Sri Lanka, his decision making was extremely defensive and unimaginative.

Ball swinging and Sri Lankans clearly struggling against the pace of the fast bowlers, yet he takes off the fast bowlers when they could have buried Lankans completely. Everyone knows Rajapaksa feeds on spin bowling, yet we kept serving him spin and allowed Hasaranga to settle down as well.

Ok, you did the 'master stoke' of buying a wicket with Iftikhar but even then he failed to read the situation and bring back Haris/Naseem for an over each. Had they survived that spell then he could have easily choked them further with the quality defensive bowling of Nawaz but he probably forgot that Nawaz was playing tonight.

We have to relieve him of captaincy as soon as possible. He not only plays as if he is shackled but is also keeping the team in shackles.

 

[Seen Sheen]

The mentality is to get the problematic overs out of the way , never once thinking about going for the kill. Even with 5 wickets down inside 9 overs, Babar was thinking about who would bowl the 19th and 20th.

Utterly pathetic, I can't explain how frustrated I was and still am with his gully- level captaincy. I am not even that angry with the batting effort; the captaincy alone was responsible for us chasing 150+ (horrible fielding made it 170 in the end). Sri Lanks could even have been bowled out at around 120 if he had used 9-10 overs of fast bowling in first 12-14 overs. After Shanaka was gone, we could have finished the game with fast bowling.

I think Babar deserved this defeat. Biggest culprit tonight.

 

[James]

Babar Azam "there were a lot of positives for us in this tournament. There were some good individual performances from Rizwan, Shadab, Nawaz and Naseem Shah. This was the first tournament where Naseem really expressed himself and he was outstanding"

 

[Seen Sheen]

The silver lining in all this is that his favourite Ifitikhar might have played his last game for Pakistan today.

But then it's Pakistan. Wishing for logic is often in vain

Bhai only silver-lining for me would be if Babar is removed as captain.

I don't even care about the middle order that much. For me, this guy would bring this potentially world-beating fast bowling attack down with his gutless tactics.

Once we have a new captain then we could worry about the no-hopers in the middle order. When the captain is incompetent, there is no hope for the ship to survive the turbulent waters no matter who you bring as the assistants/sailors.

 

[Maliq_Mudasir]

Education doesn't impact on being the skillfull and talented batsmen, but it does matter for effective captaincy

 

[asifp]

He is probably the worst captain in international cricket.

His captaincy cost us the semi final last year and the final this year

In PSL he is clearly worse than Shahdab, Rizwan, Masood and SSA.

Very defensive, timid approach. Playing not to lose, rather than playing to win.

No killer instinct, sticks to a script.

Great batsman, not gold enough to be a club captain

 

[sweep_shot]

He never seemed like a good captain. He is too nice and too introverted to be the captain.

Captaincy should go to someone charismatic. I think Shaheen or Rizwan should be the captain.

 

[Grunge101]

The only silver lining that can come out of this is

1) hopefully Hasan Ali and Iftikhar have played their last matches for Pakistan
2) hopefully the ones in power have seen enough to realize that Babar is not and will never be captaincy material.
3) having 3 players who are all slow starters as your top 3 and then selecting the rest of batting lineup to compensate for that will never ever work in the modern game.
3) Having separate bowling, batting and spinner coaches and no one to head them is a farce. They need someone well aquainted with the modern game and one free of the "tribe bias" to step in and manage this bunch

 

[shah_1]

He is one of the worst captain out there

We almost lost a match against Netherland as well. Scammer

 

[Markhor]

Bhai only silver-lining for me would be if Babar is removed as captain.

I don't even care about the middle order that much. For me, this guy would bring this potentially world-beating fast bowling attack down with his gutless tactics.

Once we have a new captain then we could worry about the no-hopers in the middle order. When the captain is incompetent, there is no hope for the ship to survive the turbulent waters no matter who you bring as the assistants/sailors.

The worrying thing is Babar himself seems incapable of identifying the real issues. He said post-match that "our middle order couldn't finish well today."

I'm not excusing Khushdil, Asif, Nawaz and Shadab but that's a ridiculous comment. The culprits tonight were Rizwan, Iftikhar and himself for letting the runchase reach the stage where we required 70 from 30 despite 7 wickets in hand.

They consumed so many deliveries playing risk-free cricket basically asking others to perform a miracle. The pitch was not one where you could slog from ball one.

 

[Marooned]

The worrying thing is Babar himself seems incapable of identifying the real issues. He said post-match that "our middle order couldn't finish well today."

I'm not excusing Khushdil, Asif, Nawaz and Shadab but that's a ridiculous comment. The culprits tonight were Rizwan, Iftikhar and himself for letting the runchase reach the stage where we required 70 from 30 despite 7 wickets in hand.

They consumed so many deliveries playing risk-free cricket basically asking others to perform a miracle. The pitch was not one where you could slog from ball one.

He says without thinking. Don't take anything he says at face value. Last match he said "Hasan ka jis tarah comeback hua hai wo outstanding tha"....

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

The worrying thing is Babar himself seems incapable of identifying the real issues. He said post-match that "our middle order couldn't finish well today."

I'm not excusing Khushdil, Asif, Nawaz and Shadab but that's a ridiculous comment. The culprits tonight were Rizwan, Iftikhar and himself for letting the runchase reach the stage where we required 70 from 30 despite 7 wickets in hand.

They consumed so many deliveries playing risk-free cricket basically asking others to perform a miracle. The pitch was not one where you could slog from ball one.

He is very much like Inzamam in that regard. Just captain because he is the best in the team and well respected.

Strategy and quick thinking is something that is very unknown in Pakistan and no one is really bothered about it. We just execute pre-planned ideas and leave everything to Allah.

It's something cultural that the oldest or most respected is automatically the captain.

On merit Babar would never be captain anywhere. Great batsman and infact our best but he is not a leader/captainncy material in sports.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

He is definitely not captain material, he is the one who closes his eyes when seeing the apparent problem with the team and keep deluding that there is nothing wrong with the team and hence no changes are required

I think even tom dick and Harry can do a better job

 

[Seen Sheen]

The worrying thing is Babar himself seems incapable of identifying the real issues. He said post-match that "our middle order couldn't finish well today."

I'm not excusing Khushdil, Asif, Nawaz and Shadab but that's a ridiculous comment. The culprits tonight were Rizwan, Iftikhar and himself for letting the runchase reach the stage where we required 70 from 30 despite 7 wickets in hand.

They consumed so many deliveries playing risk-free cricket basically asking others to perform a miracle. The pitch was not one where you could slog from ball one.

Markhor bhai, never read too much into what he says in these post-match presentations/press conferences. He regurgitates the same old non-sense "positive cricket/great from bowlers/made mistakes/need to learn from mistakes". Absolutely no insight ever and just a waste of time.

With regards to Babar's captaincy, I was actually told by many that give him sometime, he was a youngish captain and he would eventually learn but I was never sold on this guy becoming the captain; he never seemed like a leader and he never came across as somebody who was smart and imaginative enough to be a captain.

He seems very capable of problem-solving AS FAR AS his BATTING is concerned; he saw issues with his batting and has rectified almost all of them over the past few years but I don't think he has it in him to improve on his captaincy/team related decision making. For you to overcome a problem, you need to first admit and identify that there is a problem but as you have so rightly pointed out, he doesn't even think there is any issue with his captaincy. At best, he might recognise/coaching staff might tell that he under-utilised Nawaz but he doesn't even think that the match was lost when he failed to attack and finish them through the pacers.


Today, there was absolutely nothing the middle order could do; Riz-Iftikhar duo had almost buried our chances by the time Nawaz came to the middle.
But still the biggest culprit is the leader of the ship. Like I said earlier, under his captaincy, we will continue to under-exploit even our strongest weapon, i-e fast bowling.

It is so heartening to see 3-4 high quality fast bowlers after ages in Pakistan and it is equally disheartening to see a captain letting them down by not trusting them enough!