Aoba Tanaka 
Less than two years ago, Babar Azam stood on the roof of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the T20 World Cup trophy in sight. His team had defied the odds to reach the final, overcoming early losses to India and Zimbabwe. However, in this year’s tournament, Pakistan, the previous edition’s finalists, bowed out at the group stage due to repeated batting failures in bowling-friendly conditions in the US.
“We did not play well as a team,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam admitted in his final press conference of the tournament on June 16. “It’s not that we lost because of one person. As a team, we lost. Sometimes we did well with our bowling but we did not do well in batting. The pitches here helped the fast bowlers a little, but our batting did not click.”
In their losses to the USA and India, Pakistani batters struggled significantly. They began poorly in the match against the USA but recovered to make 159, only to lose in a dramatic Super Over finish. In the small chase against India, they collapsed from 73 for 2 to 102 for 7, squandering two crucial points. Despite subsequent wins against Canada and Ireland, which also saw brief batting wobbles, Pakistan finished third in their group, behind the teams they lost to.
“When the games were in our hands, we lost wickets, which caused us to lose two crucial matches,” Babar Azam said. “When you lose back-to-back wickets, the pressure builds. There are some dot balls, and you need to build partnerships. We were going easily, but then back-to-back wickets fell, creating pressure and taking the game deep.”
Pakistan has had considerable success in the T20 format recently, reaching the semifinal of the 2021 T20 World Cup and the finals of the T20 World Cup 2022 and Asia Cup 2022 within two months. Azam emphasized that his team, which achieved those feats, simply failed to perform as a unit this year.
“We have played the Asia Cup final, the World Cup final, and the semifinal. But we could not finish this time. We have to accept that as a team. I, as a captain, and as a team, accept that we didn’t play the same cricket. We couldn’t perform the same way. We didn’t execute or deliver at different times. So, I don’t want to blame anyone. It’s the fault of all the 15 players. We lost as a team.”
The pitches and conditions across most tournament venues favored the bowlers, with double-digit team totals becoming a common occurrence. The pitch in New York was particularly criticized for its uneven bounce, which could have led to injuries. Azam felt that batting was tough throughout the tournament and that the pitches should have been better.
“In New York, the game was decided by the toss. The timing was a little too early. Every second team bowled, and the bowlers got help. The bounce was inconsistent. Sometimes the ball went too high, sometimes it stayed low. As a batter, you had to take time and build your innings, especially in the first six overs. We should have had better pitches,” Babar Azam opined.
The captaincy situation in Pakistan has been turbulent, with Azam returning to lead the white-ball teams in March this year after fast bowler Shaheen Afridi led the T20I side for a brief period in January. The underwhelming World Cup campaign now puts Azam’s captaincy under scrutiny once again.
“About captaincy – when I left it, I thought that I shouldn’t be doing it, that’s why I left it and announced it myself last November. Then when they gave it back to me, it was the PCB’s decision. When I go back, we will discuss everything that happened here. If I have to leave the captaincy, I will tell you openly. I will not announce anything behind the scenes. Whatever happens, will happen in front of you. But for now, I have not thought about it. The decision is of the PCB.”
As Pakistan looks to regroup and address their shortcomings, the cricketing world will watch closely to see how they bounce back from this setback.
#babar #azam #babarazam #cricket #pakistan #t20 #news #worldcup #cricketnews #t20worldcup #sportznews #newssportz
