Pakistan have had a disastrous start to their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign. After suffering a four-wicket loss to rivals India in their opening match of the tournament last Sunday, the Babar Azam-led side lost to Zimbabwe in their second match. Despite restricting the men in crimson to 130/8, Pakistan fell short of the target as they fell one run short.
Pakistan’s cricket fraternity has been disappointed with its performance in the tournament so far. While many believed that most of the Pakistani batsmen were unaware of the game, the team’s senior wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal had a big warning about Babar Azam after the defeat. Akmal, who is Babar’s cousin, asked the star fighter to “step down” from the leadership position to improve his career.
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“Dekhain, sen toh nazar aa raha ta.” Pehle match me ye bowling karaayi hoti toh hum runs naa chase karwaate. Ham kehte aa rahe hain England series me, koi sun nahi raha hai ego me aake. Former cricketers. Big brother, agar Babar samajhta hai, agar PCB samajhta hai meri rai, Babar ko iss World Cup ke baad kaptaani nahi karni chahiye. (Look, we see it. If we had played the same bowling attack in the first match, we would not have allowed India to chase down the target. I have been saying this since the England series, but no one listens before. I want to say to Babar as a brother, he is the world T20 after the championship, he should leave the captaincy,” said Akmal. ARY News.
“Agar aapko uss se 22-25000 run karwaane hain, toh usko as a player khilaaein. Varna vo itna aaega under pressure, agar Babar ya mere chachu samajhte hain, usko go down kar dena chahie. (If you want 22-25,000 runs from him, you have to keep him as a player only, otherwise he will be under pressure. If Babar or his father realizes this, he should step down).
Akmal further urged Babar to focus on playing “like Virat Kohli” and said it would be a “huge loss” for the side if the Pakistan batsman did not realize his full potential.
“Apni cricket me focus karein, jaise Virat Kohli focus karta hai. Kyunki iske baad koi batsman mere ko nazar nahi aa raha hai. Bada nuksaan hoga Pakistan cricket ka agar ye jaldi team se chala gaya toh. (He should focus on his cricket like Virat Kohli. Because I can’t see anyone else with that quality in our team. If Babar doesn’t play to his full potential, Pakistan cricket will suffer a lot,” Akmal said.