Why is Babar Azam’s captaincy in the ICC T20 World Cup Semi-Final not being scrutinized?

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

Don’t take this a sign that I want him replaced or that he is bad captain.

But literally no one is talking about the captaincy blunders. Few which stand out:

1) Not going for extra over (3rd) with Shaheen at start. He was creating chances and he has always been much better up top so why not try to go for an extra wicket

2) field positions in over where Shaheen was tonked for 3 sixes. Fine leg and third man up when bowling full against a guy known to scoop?

3) only one over with Hafeez? Hafeez is known to make lefties struggle so I don’t get why he wasn’t given another over. Hafeez over went for 13 but if you just look at LEGAL deliveries he gave 5 runs in the over. (7 off the first no ball and then a wide). He would’ve kept it tight if another over. The 7 extra runs were purely freak event

4) not aggressing earlier on in the batting. Why are you batting at 7 per over in the 10th over when your batting goes till #9?

 

[KingKhan12]

Agree poor captaincy. Even when Warner got out he could used a over or 2 of spin of Hafeez/Imad and I'm sure Stoinis and Wade would got out trying to hit them. Then would meant Hassan Ali who was out of form bowling less over or 2. But Babar captained like Hassan Ali going to bowl his full quota.

But hopefully he will learn from all mistakes he made.

 

[-Imran-]

To add to this I feel the poorest desicion was not to bowl Imad Wasim for his 4th over.

Imad bowled a tight over when he was used in the 13th over. Imad should have bowled another one in the 15th. This meant Hassan had to be used for his 4th over and we know what happened after that. Hassan was already poor in his first 3 overs.

 

[hitthestump]

Shaheen had been bowling 2 upfront and 2 at the death all tournament and had yet to be really exposed.

Given how inconsistent Haris and Hassan are and the middling total, could Babar afford to only have 1 over of Shaheen for the death?

 

[hitthestump]

To add to this I feel the poorest desicion was not to bowl Imad Wasim for his 4th over.

Imad bowled a tight over when he was used in the 13th over. Imad should have bowled another one in the 15th. This meant Hassan had to be used for his 4th over and we know what happened after that. Hassan was already poor in his first 3 overs.

This was the biggest blunder by miles. Hassan had been poor all tournament, Imad had been brilliant. Babar backed the wrong horse.

 

[shah9425]

Yeah last 4 overs were blunder for him

 

[Oneking]

He didn’t attack with his field placement. When Steven smith came in there was no slip in place edge went for four, all fielders were kept to edge of circle, bowling changes were too predictable, when wade and stonis came on should have gone with spinners through out the tournament he kept missing little tricks
Players like shadab and Hassan Ali are allowed to call shots he needs to understand that he is in charge. Also Pakistan needs proper ATTACKING COACH with clear game planning. coach also needs to teach Babar little tricks field placement player management, Mickey Arthur was good at it. Babar needs to be given full control and Pakistan needs to leave baggage players like Sarfraz ( was a fan but don’t understand what he is doing in team other then collecting pay checks) Malik ( he done and dusted) Hafeez ( too old can’t bowl little cameo here and their should not be part of team ) Hassan Ali ( needs to go back to work on his basiscs ). Imad ( other then bowling two over in power play he doesn’t have any other purpose).
Invest in future if Babar and Pakistan cricket needs to succeed they have good bench Haider Ali, get him to play more, get Fakhar to open with Rizwan Babar first down Haider at number 4. They a player right at the top to go after bowler and unsettle them stop being defensive and be happy with 40 odd runs in power play, if you loose Fakhar or Rizwan at open then they can aim for 40 odd runs should be aiming for 50 plus in power plays.

 

[Azeem Zafar]

Yes he made some mistakes but we've to remember that this was his first major tournament as captain and he did really well for most parts. We need to cut him some slack and be persistent with him, he will surely grow in his captaincy role since we've a major tournament coming up in each of the next 3-4 years.
This mindset of intense scrutiny and criticism needs to be changed from us after a knockout loss every time, no one actually called for Kohli's removal after the CT'17 & WC'19 losses.

 

[Ashmal]

In hindsight....we can all say he should've done this or done that.

Honestly speaking, the way Babar evolved as a captain in this WC was remarkable, his leadership in that India game stands out.

I can only see him improving from here on.

 

[smkk]

Yes he made some mistakes but we've to remember that this was his first major tournament as captain and he did really well for most parts. We need to cut him some slack and be persistent with him, he will surely grow in his captaincy role since we've a major tournament coming up in each of the next 3-4 years.
This mindset of intense scrutiny and criticism needs to be changed from us after a knockout loss every time, no one actually called for Kohli's removal after the CT'17 & WC'19 losses.

Agree.
The mindset of scrutiny and criticism for a new captain is absolutely wrong. Let Babar play 3-4 more major tournaments and then put him under radar for all his mistakes. For now have patience, till he learn his craft and how to handle pressure situation.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Yes he made some mistakes but we've to remember that this was his first major tournament as captain and he did really well for most parts. We need to cut him some slack and be persistent with him, he will surely grow in his captaincy role since we've a major tournament coming up in each of the next 3-4 years.
This mindset of intense scrutiny and criticism needs to be changed from us after a knockout loss every time, no one actually called for Kohli's removal after the CT'17 & WC'19 losses.

Exactly , this was his first ICC tournament as a captain , and very much impressed with his captaincy on and off the field.

Yes there were mistakes and I hope he learns from it. Under pressure against Aus in a semifinal on his first major ICC EVENT, acceptable

Definitely one for the future. And now it’s time for him and PCB to roll out and back youngsters.

Would like to see Haider Ali step up and join hands with Babar and Rizwan in taking responsibility of the batting in all formats.

 

[Shafi]

Hasan Ali may cost us Bangladesh series.

 

[smkk]

Invest in future if Babar and Pakistan cricket needs to succeed they have good bench Haider Ali, get him to play more, get Fakhar to open with Rizwan Babar first down Haider at number 4. They a player right at the top to go after bowler and unsettle them stop being defensive and be happy with 40 odd runs in power play, if you loose Fakhar or Rizwan at open then they can aim for 40 odd runs should be aiming for 50 plus in power plays.

Openning with Fakhar will not achieve anything. In the semi final it would 15 balls for Fakhar to really get going. Before that not for a single delivery he looked neither comfortable nor assured at all even to play for single. Fakhar should come down further late hitting only. Put him in top order is a recipe for disaster in 7-8 matches out of 10.

Instead find a new but attacking opening batsman. I hope Abdullah Shafique can be that batsman.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

In hindsight....we can all say he should've done this or done that.

Honestly speaking, the way Babar evolved as a captain in this WC was remarkable, his leadership in that India game stands out.

I can only see him improving from here on.

Exactly , was totally impressed with that game. Calm and collected, not even see that from Wasim Akram against Ind in a WC game.

There were times during Indian batting in 1st inns and also when chasing India got a sniff to roll over Pakistan , he did put his head high and didn’t crumble under pressure that was remarkable.

Indians were hoping that even at the last 2 overs if they get a wicket , Pakistan will lose and were blaming Shami for giving the runs, that his how much high their confidence was playing Pakistan in a WC game.

Also mouth watering to face Pakistan again in the final to give it back. India with all those streak had their confidence sky high in beating and mauling Pakistan in a WC game. To break that streak from such a young captain was a remarkable achievement.

 

[shamaan]

Shaheen had been bowling 2 upfront and 2 at the death all tournament and had yet to be really exposed.

Given how inconsistent Haris and Hassan are and the middling total, could Babar afford to only have 1 over of Shaheen for the death?

Am sure he bowled 3 against India.

 

[shamaan]

The two biggest blunders for me was not bowling Shaheen for a third over and Imad not bowling his 4th over after his third over was very good.

 

[Nasty Naz]

The two biggest blunders for me was not bowling Shaheen for a third over and Imad not bowling his 4th over after his third over was very good.

Imad not coming in to finish his 4th after a very tight previous over and choosing to bowl Hasan to bowl over him was the biggest blunder IMO.

I believe Wade just got in at the time and I'd assume they didn't want to expose Imad vs a lefty after getting destroyed by Warner but it's tougher for Wade to do Warner did with the field back and new at the crease. This was where they lost it.

Nonetheless, Babar did show overall great improvement in his captaincy & bowling changes in this tournament so it is a good learning moment for him. More than anything, he is a proper leader in the dressing room and keeps this team as a team which is certainly no easy task considering all the nonsense dressing room drama we have seen for the past decades.

 

[Itachi]

In hindsight....we can all say he should've done this or done that.

Honestly speaking, the way Babar evolved as a captain in this WC was remarkable, his leadership in that India game stands out.

I can only see him improving from here on.

Its a bit of exaggeration. Credit goes to Afridi. If Afridi wasn't there, babar would have been all over the place. He made one good decision (that too because of PCB) of selecting Afridi for the team. Rest is normal for any other average captain.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Meh, T20 World Cups happen every two year, it's not the end of the world. Babar has done very well and he has a lot more to learn. He is on the right track and has taken valuable lessons already.

 

[happydavy]

PPers should support Babar regardless of the outcome for atleast an year or 2, for a couple of reasons - any captain needs time to settle in and have his imprint on the squad, strategy etc etc and secondaly does pakistan have another option for captain and the answer is no. It's absolutely important that Babar succeeds in the long run because if he's removed from captaincy then he would really struggle to be the same batsman as he is now.

 

[hitthestump]

I believe Wade just got in at the time and I'd assume they didn't want to expose Imad vs a lefty after getting destroyed by Warner but it's tougher for Wade to do Warner did with the field back and new at the crease. This was where they lost it.

I think it's because using Imad's full quota would have meant one over less for either Hasan or Rauf and Babar seemed to prefer to go with 12 overs of pace at all costs.

No doubt in my mind that Imad and even Hafeez could have been given one more.

 

[shamaan]

Imad not coming in to finish his 4th after a very tight previous over and choosing to bowl Hasan to bowl over him was the biggest blunder IMO.

I believe Wade just got in at the time and I'd assume they didn't want to expose Imad vs a lefty after getting destroyed by Warner but it's tougher for Wade to do Warner did with the field back and new at the crease. This was where they lost it.

Nonetheless, Babar did show overall great improvement in his captaincy & bowling changes in this tournament so it is a good learning moment for him. More than anything, he is a proper leader in the dressing room and keeps this team as a team which is certainly no easy task considering all the nonsense dressing room drama we have seen for the past decades.

Yes I agree he showed improvements and pluss he's got control of the dressing room you can see that they respect him.

I stil think shaheen bowling 3 overs up front would have done the trick as he had his tail up pluss he was unlucky not getting the LBW go his way.

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

Babars captaincy in this series and the England series has been bang average

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

Pretty average captaincy again today.

We need wickets. Why isn’t Shaheen bowling? He looked great. He should have probably bowled 3 overs first up at the very least

 

[reversehook]

*** is he saving naseem and shaheen for, need wkts, esp when the ball is swinging... go all gung hu, whats the point of saving them for 19th and 20th when match gonna end in 15th or 16th...

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Awful captain can't field

*** is he saving naseem and shaheen for, need wkts, esp when the ball is swinging... go all gung hu, whats the point of saving them for 19th and 20th when match gonna end in 15th or 16th...

It's bitten

 

[Kianig89]

Played like Gooch Captained like Gooch and caught by a leggie like Gooch in final

 

[Markhor]

*** is he saving naseem and shaheen for, need wkts, esp when the ball is swinging... go all gung hu, whats the point of saving them for 19th and 20th when match gonna end in 15th or 16th...

Same old scripted captaincy from Babar.

Did the same thing in Asia Cup Final.

 

[badsha001]

Dropped 2 catches as well. Any decent fielder would have caught both of those catches at long off in Chacha Ifti over.

 

[Bewal Express]

He isn't the greatest tactician but in this WC he captained well in the field. But we should move on and look at Shadab or if fit SSA

 

[Cover Drive Six]

More than capacity his batting need to be criticized in both 2021 SF and 2022 Final.
39(34) and 32(28)

Played a match losing innings with SR 114.

 

[nextover666666]

It is clear he should not be captain. He should still play as a batsman.

I feel if he will be removed from captancy he will find his flow again as a batsman.

Time for Shadab, Shaheen or even Shan to become captain.

 

[reversehook]

if a measly club team in t20s has realized he isnt kuptaan material, then idk y our national team cant... and we need to get rid of ammi ji saqlain, and get a proper coach... hayden ko hi rakh lo...