Even though Babar Azam is the leading run-getter in T20Is, experts wants the Pakistan skipper to retire from the format. Babar Azam was castigated by all the Pakistani media and experts round the world T20I resignation of the Pakistan skipper following the flop show of the Green Army at the ICC World Cup 2024 on Sunday.
Pakistan, last edition’s runners-up, suffered a premature exit from Group A in the 2024 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States of America and former champions West Indies. With Babar Azam at the helm, Pakistan finished behind arch-rivals India and co-hosts USA in Group A. Pakistan’s exit from the T20 World Cup occurred prior to its final Group A fixture against Ireland. Babar Azam and Co. were knocked out of the World Cup after the rain abandoned the USA’s game against Ireland.
Babar Azam performance in T20 World Cup 2024
The Pakistan captain smashed only two fours in his match-winning knock against Ireland at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground. Babar Azam finished his campaign with 122 runs in four games at the T20 World Cup. The former World No.1 batter averaged 40.66 for the Green Army in the ICC event. During the group stage of the ICC event, Babar Azam surpassed Virat Kohli to become the all-time leading run-getter in the history of the shortest.
Rescuing Pakistan from another batting collapse, Babar Azam remained unbeaten to help the former champions salvage some pride against Ireland. Babar scored 32 off 34 balls as Pakistan chased down the 107-run target in 18.5 overs. Ireland reduced Pakistan 95-7 before Babar Azam revived the run chase of the Asian giants. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam batted at a strike rate of 94.12.
Heading into the match against Ireland on Sunday, Babar had 4,113 runs in 115 innings at an average of 40.72 and a strike rate of 129.46, with three hundreds and 36 half-centuries. Star Indian batter Virat Kohli is second on the list with 4,042 runs in 112 innings at an average of 49.90 and a strike rate of 137.90, with one hundred and 37 half-centuries.
Men in Blue skipper Rohit Sharma also has the same number of runs as Kohli in T20Is. The Indian opener has 4,042 runs from 146 innings at an average of 31.82 and a strike rate of 139.66, with five tons and 30 fifties. India ahead went to became the Champions of the T20 2024 Trophy while Pakistan has lost major tournaments including Asia Cup , T20I World Cups and ODI World Cup under Babar Azam’s captaincy.
With many against Babar continuing as Pakistan captain, former teammate and player Hasan Ali has came in all support for Babar Azam and stood by him.
Hasan Ali on Babar Azam post WT20 2024 debacle.
Pakistan seamer Hasan Ali believes Babar Azam hasn’t performed badly in recent ICC tournaments, except for the 2023 World Cup in India. Hasan also referred to the Pakistan white-ball skipper as the ‘king’ of their batting unit and suggested that he saw improvement in him in all facets.
Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali has once again called Babar Azam a ‘King’. This time Ali called Azam king of Pakistan’s batting lineup following criticism of his batting and captaincy as the Green shirts’ poor performance in the recent T20 World Cup 2024. At the recent ICC cricketing extravaganza, Babar, the batter, failed as well as he managed a lowly 122 runs in 4 group-stage matches.
Babar was playing in India for the first time at the ODI World Cup. He finished as the third-highest run-getter for Pakistan with 320 runs in nine matches, averaging 40. While the right-handed batter struck four half-centuries, he couldn’t deliver enough match-winning performances as the Men in Green suffered a group-stage exit.
Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, Hasan claimed:
“He is the king of Pakistan’s batting lineup, and he should improve. I should improve; everyone should improve. And you can see that he has also improved. It’s not like he hasn’t done it. Wherever he has performed in batting, I don’t think he has given a bad performance anywhere, except in India in the recent World Cup, where he didn’t score a century.”
Babar has been under pressure since Pakistan’s humiliating group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup 2024. The Men in Green suffered a shocking loss to the USA, followed by another close defeat to India, which prompted the PCB chief to express the need for “major surgery.” Babar’s captaincy future remains uncertain.
Hasan Ali on not representing Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2024
The right-arm seamer was naturally keen to play in the recently concluded T20 World Cup. He highlighted that the team management had only drafted him as Haris Rauf’s replacement for the Ireland and England tours before the multi-nation event.
“I don’t regret it. Obviously, I wanted to play, and I wanted to perform and play. I don’t want to play without performance, and it’s neither in my nature nor do I want to play that kind of cricket, and I never have. So I don’t regret it because the management had already told me that I was Haris Rauf’s replacement only for the Ireland and England tours. So when Haris gets fit, you will automatically be out.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s next assignment is only in August, when they play Bangladesh in a two-Test series at home.