Former cricketers lash out following Pakistan’s World Cup exit

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Pakistan captain Babar Azam was described as "depressed" and under pressure to save his job Sunday after the team crashed out of the Cricket World Cup, failing to make the semi-finals for a second successive tournament.

A 93-run loss to England sealed Pakistan's fate, ending the 1992 champions' already slim hopes of squeezing into the last four.

Former Pakistan captain and ex-chairman of the country's cricket board Ramiz Raja said that 29-year-old Azam was "depressed" over the reaction at home.

Azam's team lost five of their nine games including a seven-wicket mauling by India in front of more than 100,000 fans in Ahmedabad.

That was India's eighth victory in eight World Cup games against their neighbours. Pakistan also lost to Afghanistan for the first time.

Azam made 320 runs at the World Cup with four fifties at an average of 40 and remains the world's second highest-ranked batsman. He has almost 13,000 runs in all international cricket.

However, it was his captaincy in India which was questioned when he faced accusations of lacking aggression in field settings.

Pakistan media consistently accused him of favouring his friends in selection.

Raja believes that Azam may become the first victim of bloodletting in a Pakistan cricketing environment often plagued by infighting.

"There's so much pressure on him that he may leave the job," Raja told the BBC's Test Match Special.

"Back home there has obviously been a massive backlash, as expected. The Pakistan media have targeted certain players, and especially Babar Azam.

"It's just a World Cup so you have to take the heat somehow. The problem with this team is it has the potential to play modern-day cricket but they have been a bit shy and timid with their approach," Raja added.

Raja also criticized the entire Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and defended Azam, blaming the overall system for the team's performance. He questioned the PCB's approach of changing captains and coaching staff without addressing deeper issues within the system.

"When you [bowlers] don't take wickets with the new ball and start getting expensive [conceding runs], how would Babar do captaincy then?" Raja said.

"And then they [PCB] would gather some ex-cricketers and ask them how to fix cricket? Who put them in charge [of the board]? Is their job just to huddle together and change the captain and the coaching staff and everything would think they have taken a big step. It is their misunderstanding," he added.

Former cricketers, Wasim Akram and Misbah-ul-Haq, also echoed similar sentiments, emphasizing that blaming the captain alone was unfair, attributing the team's struggles to systemic faults

"The captain alone is not playing the game. Yes he did make captaincy errors in this World Cup and in Asia Cup as well. But he isn't alone to blame. This is a fault of the entire system for the last one year or more where the players don't know who is the coach. You cannot make him the scapegoat here," Akram said.

"The captaincy pressure has had an effect on Babar and he looked stressed, during the Asia Cup as well as in the World Cup. Captaincy pressure will always be there but when he is in the middle as a batter, he must focus there and how to get runs," Akram added.

"We were expecting Babar to be among the top two or three run-getters in conditions of India," Misbah said.

"All of your resources, including fast bowlers were toothless. When your premier fast bowler is only taking three wickets with the new ball and spinners are not performing then it is not only Babar to be blamed. Everybody has to take the blame - the team management, selection committee and Babar- since these resources were backed by them," Misbah added.

Other former players, such as Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar, expressed disappointment with the team's performance. Malik criticized the lack of resources and street-smartness from the captain, while Akhtar highlighted the overall lack of intent and the need for significant improvements.

“Lack of resources. No street smartness from the captain. We have only won against small teams. He [Babar] is captain for the past three years and there is no improvement," Malik said.

 “End of a disappointing campaign for Pakistan. They never got going really at any point. Clear lack of intent was visible. A lot needs to be done, but even for that, intent is important first," Akhtar wrote in his social media post.

 

End of a disappointing campaign for Pakistan. They never got going really at any point. Clear lack of intent was visible. A lot needs to be done, but even for that, intent is important first.

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 11, 2023