Babar Azam deserves no place in Pakistan’s T20 team: Virender Sehwag

With the Babar Azam-led Pakistan cricket team failing to qualify for the Super Eight stage of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies, former Indian Virender Sehwag lashed out at the skipper over his poor performance.

In the group-stage matches, Pakistan managed to win only against Canada and Ireland, and Babar’s team lost against India and the USA. They finished third with four points after four matches in the group stage.

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Looking at the stats, Babar’s performance in the group stage has been poor. He managed 122 runs at a strike rate of only 101.66.

Lambasting Babar, Sehwag noted that the Pakistan captain does not meet the requirements for the modern T20 game. He was also of the opinion that if the Pakistan Cricket Board acts against Babar and removes him from white-ball captaincy, then he should not be considered for the Pakistan T20I team.

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“But as a leader you have to think whether this game is useful for his team. If not, then demote yourself and send someone who can play big shots in the six overs and get the team 50–60 runs. I may sound harsh, but if the captain changes, Babar doesn’t deserve a place in the T20 team. His performances are not as per the demands of today’s T20 cricket,” Cricbuzz quoted Sehwag as saying.

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After the Ireland match, that Pakistan won, Babar did not just defend the criticism against his captaincy.

“When I gave up the captaincy [in 2023], I thought that I shouldn’t be doing it now, that’s why I left it and I announced it myself,” Babar said. “Then when they gave it back to me, it was the decision of the PCB. When I go back, we will discuss all that has happened here. And if I have to leave the captaincy, I will announce it openly. I will not hide behind anything. Whatever happens will happen in the open. But for now, I have not thought about it. It is eventually PCB’s decision,” Sehwag added.