Sunil Gavaskar criticises Babar for his poor selection in the T20 World Cup

Pakistan's T20 World Cup 2022 campaign is in jeopardy. After losing by four wickets to India and one run to Zimbabwe at the start of their tournament, Pakistan is on the verge of elimination from the T20 World Cup, where they were considered favorites to reach the semi-finals, as predicted by veterans and analysts.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar joined the chorus of criticism directed at Babar Azam and the team administration, accusing Pakistan of poor selection during the World Cup.

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Pakistan was defeated by India by four wickets in Melbourne on Sunday, despite Virat Kohli's magnificent effort inspiring the Men in Blue to a dramatic last-over finish. Babar's side could not recover from that early setback, falling to Zimbabwe in Perth on Thursday.

Gavaskar blasted Pakistan for not deploying Mohammad Wasim Jr. in the match against India after his exploits against Zimbabwe, where he took four wickets for 24 runs and struck two boundaries in his 13-ball 12. The famous batsman praised Wasim as a "Hardik Pandya-like guy" and criticized Pakistan team management for fielding two spinners against India rather than one all-rounder in the XI.

“They don't have a very settled middle order. In the T20I matches they played before, Fakhar Zaman played at No.3 or 4. Now he is part of the squad, but not in the XI. Shan Masood is also there. Although he is scoring runs. But I feel their selection hasn't been good. For Australia's conditions, if they had a bowler who could seam up like Mohammad Wasim did against Zimbabwe. And he also played a couple of good shots as well. He has that talent. He's like Hardik Pandya, he's still new, but I'm just giving the idea that he can play those lofty shots and give you a couple of overs. And they did not play him against India. They played two spinners. That is okay in Sydney, but at other venues, you need a player who can give you 3-4 overs and can score 30 runs in the last few overs,” he said.

Pakistan will play their do-and-die match against the Netherlands on October 30 at the Optus Stadium.