It was less than two years ago in November 2022, when Pakistan captain Babar Azam and England captain Jos Buttler stood on the roof of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with their eyes on the T20 World Cup trophy. Now, in 2024, his side has ended at the third position in the group, which included two associate nations of Canada and the co-host United States of America.
And, just as it happens in Asian countries, the pressure of their group stage exit from the T20 World Cup 2024, where the USA have made their way to the ‘super eight’ from their group, has come on the captain of the side- Babar Azam, who himself has been going through a rough patch in the batting order.
The moment the 2009 champions lost to the USA at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, one could easily sense the heart-breaking moments among the dressing room, the players, and the fans of the side around the globe.
‘It’s not that we lost because of one person.’- Babar Azam
The defeat to the USA side didn’t pinch them much at the beginning, as the whole focus shifted towards their very next game of the campaign, which was against India at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, where they failed to chase down a low target of 120-overs.
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At one point of the game, the blue brigade was running away with the game, as they were 89/3 in 11 overs, before their bowlers pulled them back in the contest with some brilliant bowling, added with sharp mindset and accurate planning.
But it was their batting that let them down in the encounter, At 72/2 in 12 overs in chasing 120 runs, it was expected to be an easy chase, with Mohammad Rizwan, who was set in the crease being there, but once he got out, it just opened the channel in the wickets column, as they fell short by six runs.
Even in their dead-rubber clash against Ireland at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill, Florida, Pakistan almost gifted the game in the 107-run chase to the opponents. At one point, they were walking gently with 52/2, but then there was destruction.
The Babar Azam-led side lost their next three wickets for five runs in nine balls, as the captain stood at one side, with wickets kept on falling from the other end. They somehow managed to pull the game with three wickets in hand, which at some point seemed to be like a walk in the park.
In his last press conference of the campaign, the Pakistan captain pointed out that they had an underwhelming season as a team, and not as an individual. It’s the team that didn’t perform, and they are not putting a finger on any personnel.
‘We didn’t play well as a team. It’s not that we lost because of one person. As a team, we lost. As a team, we were not able to click. Sometimes we did well with our bowling but we did not do well in batting.’ Babar Azam addressed. ‘The pitches here; you saw that they helped the fast bowlers a little. But I think our batting did not click.’
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There were games where the 2009h-champions were at a better position, but let the game slip from their hands, and allowed the opponents to come with dominant performances.
‘When the games were in our hands – we lost wickets because of which we lost two crucial matches. We were going ahead and the pressure was on the other team. But when you lose back-to-back wickets, you know the pressure builds.’ Babar concluded.
The fate of the Pakistan captain and their players will be sorted out next by their board before they play their next T20I series towards the end of the year in Australia.
