How justified is it to make Babar Azam share the defeat?

Bimal Kumar

Not much time has passed. Indian player Virat Kohli called Pakistani team captain Babar Azam as the best batsman in world cricket. He called Azam the best batsman in all three formats of cricket. And, Kohli did not find it difficult to accept this reality.

Kohli is definitely not someone who walks around talking whatever he wants. On top of that, Babar Azam was often compared with Kohli himself in world cricket. Babar Azam is not known as the best player just because Kohli said it.

Babar Azam has also made a great struggle to establish himself as the best batsman in world cricket. He is still sitting at the number one position in the batsman ranking of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

 However, now Babar Azam's number one position has become a subject of criticism among Pakistani cricket fans. The argument of Pakistani supporters is that if the captain himself cannot play an excellent innings in the World Cup, then there is no point in paying the world's number one batsman.

rounded criticism

Pakistan, who have played five matches so far in the ongoing ICC ODI World Cup in India, have suffered defeat in three matches. In their last match, the Pakistani team was defeated by eight wickets against a relatively weak opponent, Afghanistan.

  After that defeat with Afghanistan, the criticism of the Pakistani captain has become more heated. The situation has become so hopeless for Babar Azam that the former players of the team have started digging against him.

The former captain of the Pakistani team, Rashid Latif, has compared Babar Azam with Kohli's very bad time. Kohli was once the captain of the Indian team. When Kohli was the captain, he was in the ‘dressing room’ He used to be accused of not following the suggestions of other players. Now Rashid Latif has compared Babar Azam with the same negative aspect of Kohli.

 Going one step ahead of Rashid Atif, the former fast bowler of the Pakistan team, Aqib Javed, has claimed that Babar Azam is not a suitable character for the captain. Aqib Javed has said that Sahin Shah Afridi should be given the captaincy instead of Babar Azam.

The continuous attack on Babar Azam especially recently is not a new thing for South Asian cricket culture. Because in this region, if any team fails to perform well in the international competition, it is a tradition to put all the blame on the shoulder of the captain.

 On the contrary, no one is paying attention to the important topic of what kind of team the captain is leading and participating in the big international tournament. There is also a saying in world cricket, ‘A captain is only as successful as his teammates are.’ This means, the performance of the team players will be reflected in the face of the captain.

The Indian team also suffered such a fate

There is no need to wander too far. Even if we look at the example of the Indian team. The Indian team has also come to today's position by moving forward from bad times. Today, the group of people who do not exceed in praising Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian team, is very large.

However, exactly one year ago, Rohit Sharma was the most criticized. Not only this, the former captain of the Indian team and the current head coach Rahud Dravid is also a strong example of this. He was also once a victim of widespread criticism.

To be precise, after the T—20 World Cup held in Australia, it was a time when the Indian team was experiencing continuous failure. However, many cricket analysts did not notice the absence of Jasprit Bumrah at that time. No one understands more than a captain how the absence of a player as influential as Bumrah can be fatal to a team.

However, now the condition of the Indian team has changed. Not only Bumrah, but now Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Siraj, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, former captain Virat Kohli have completely covered the Indian team. With their best performance, India has been achieving one success after another.

So even when Hardik Pandya is injured, it does not seem to affect the Indian team. Now, even if players like Suryakumar Yadab, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur or Ravichandran Ashwin are not able to play in a match, it does not seem to matter much to the Indian team.

Now Babar Azam has only an average team

Now we all have seen the team of Babar Azam who is on the World Cup tour. Sahin Shah Afridi is the player that Pakistan team is expecting a lot. However, except for the five wickets he took against Australia, his average in other matches is normal.

So much so that even against India and Afghanistan, Shaheen Shah Afridi's performance was not of the best level. In terms of batting, except Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafiqwa, other Pakistani batsmen have not been able to perform well in this World Cup.

The performance of other players is also not seen at a high level. And in such a situation, how will the coach or captain select the final 11 players? The most impressive part of the Pakistani team is the fast bowling. In this World Cup, that side has been seen as weak.

And, captain Babar Azam is also being made a part of it. Perhaps, it is more than an injustice done to a captain. Wasim Akram and Waqar Yunus, the former captain of the Pakistani team and famous bowlers of their time, know this fact very well. So they also look disappointed now.

Sahin Shah Afridi has taken 10 wickets so far in the ongoing World Cup, but his ‘economy rate’ It looks like 6 runs per over. While India's Jasprit Bumrah has taken 12 wickets so far and his ‘economy rate’ Less than four runs.

Hasan Ali and Harris Rauf have also taken eight wickets so far. However, their ‘economy rate’ Also, per over is around more than 6 runs. Currently there are players like Sadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz in the Pakistani team as spinners. However, they have taken only two wickets so far. Their ‘economy rate’ Looks a lot more.

Ifkhir Ahmed and Mir's performance in Usama looks even more disappointing. Looking at the performance of the team, how appropriate would it be to put the blame only on the shoulders of the captain? Could Waqar Younis or Wasim Akram have taken Pakistan to the semi-finals with such a team? Maybe he couldn't.  

Therefore, the batting coach of the Pakistani team, Mohammad Yusuf, who understands the current situation well, has come to the defense of captain Babar Azam. Mohammad Yusuf himself is the former captain of the Pakistan team. According to Mohammad Yusuf, blaming the current defeat only on captain Babar Azam will be unfair to him.

Babar Azam needs support

Babar Azam is not completely blameless in the current situation. He also has some weaknesses. There will be some problems in his captaincy as well. Therefore, he should be criticized. However, it is not good to constantly chase him in the name of criticism.

Criticism can also be done constructively. Pakistani supporters should not forget the fact that Babar Azam has played an important role in making Pakistan the best team in world cricket today. He himself is now the pride of the Pakistani team.

This year, Babar Azam became the fastest player to score 5000 runs in one-day international cricket, surpassing great batsmen like Hashim Amla and Viv Richards. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have not been able to challenge Babar Azam's ICC rankings lately.

Until a few months ago, Babar Azam was among the top five in the T—20 International and Test rankings. Babar Azam is the only such Pakistani batsman after Inzamam-ul-Haq retired from active sports life, who has made a distinct identity in world cricket.

This in itself is a matter of pride for Pakistani cricket. But, sadly, Pakistani cricket is not able to understand this reality. Babar Azam is not getting the respect he should have received from Pakistani cricket and supporters. Babar Azam's honor would have been maintained if he had performed well in all the remaining matches in the ongoing World Cup!

(From BBC Hindi Service)