It Is Not Fair To Just Blame Him For Not Reaching The Asia Cup Final – Mohammad Hafeez Defends Babar Azam To Come Good In ODI World Cup

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez called for unwavering support for the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam ahead of the ODI World Cup in India. The 28-year-old has been facing criticism regarding his captaincy after he failed to guide his team to the final of the Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka.

The Men in Green were eliminated from the Asia Cup 2023 after a thrilling last-ball match against Sri Lanka, as the Pakistan players failed to step up in the Super 4 stage of the continental event. The squad led by Babar Azam was ousted from the competition after facing a humiliating loss to India, which was followed by a last-ball defeat to the host team.

Speaking to the media, Mohammad Hafeez believes it is unfair to hold the Pakistan captain Babar Azam responsible for the team’s failure to advance to the Asia Cup final.

Hafeez believes that everyone in the team must take responsibility for the failure. He further asserted that the Men in Green will walk in as one of the favourites to win the ODI World Cup in India and wants the team to reflect on the things that went wrong in the Asia Cup.

“It is not fair to just blame him for not reaching the Asia Cup final. We are not willing to give credit alone to the captain for reaching a final so why blame him alone for not reaching the Asia Cup final. Cricket is a team game.

“These bunch of players have been playing together for a while now under Babar so if we take care of some weak areas, Pakistan remains among the top four favourites in the World Cup.

“We need to reflect on where we went wrong and what is obvious is that our spinners didn’t deliver as expected and the injuries to Haris and Naseem did hurt us,” Mohammad Hafeez said.

After setting the tournament on fire with a hundred against Nepal in the tournament opener, the Pakistan skipper has just appeared off-colour and his field placements have also been strange in the event. Babar Azam appeared to be regretting his poor field placement as Charith Asalanka placed the ball behind square to run an easy double and win the last-ball thriller for the Island Nation.

We Shouldn’t Let The Asia Cup Disappointment Spoil Our Optimism – Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez urged everyone to support Babar Azam going into the World Cup in India and feels that it would be a big challenge for Pakistan players to play in Indian conditions having little exposure in the country.

“Babar needs full support and it would be folly to even think about changing the captain now.

“The problem is many of our players have limited exposure to playing in Indian conditions. It is a big challenge for any Pakistani player to play in India in a mega event and also do well, but hopefully, we can count on our players to come through. We shouldn’t let the Asia Cup disappointment spoil our optimism or support for the team.” Mohammad Hafeez added.

Pakistan has always been one of the strongest sides in world cricket and the Men in Green have performed consistently well, especially in white-ball cricket, and the Babar Azam-led side will look to turn things around going into the marquee event in India.