Shoaib Akhtar Gives Fiery Take On Babar’s Captaincy Ahead Of IND Vs PAK Clash

As India are all set to resume its rivalry with Pakistan in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2023, legendary Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has questioned the captaincy credentials of Babar Azam.

The talismanic batter of the Green Army was called out by batting legend Sunil Gavaskar for his ineffective bowling changes against the Indian side in their group-stage showdown.

The former Indian skipper had taken a dig at the Pakistan skipper by saying that Babar’s bowling changes didn’t make any sense to him. Speaking to reporters ahead of India’s Super 4 clash with Pakistan, Akhtar seconded the same and opined that Babar should have operated with frontline pacers from one end.

‘Don’t think Babar should have…’

“I don’t think Babar should have given that many overs to spinners. He could have kept the pace battery intact from one end and a spinner from the other. That is where I disagree with Babar, he used spin too much and gave up on the attack,” Akhtar told Star Sports during a press conference.

Pace ace Shaheen Afridi triggered a batting collapse of the Men In Blue inside the first seven overs. Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit perished for cheap as Afridi ran riot after India won the toss and opted to bat. Reduced to 66-4 in 14.1 overs, India staged a comeback through Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya.

What went wrong for Babar

Babar’s decision to deploy spinners after Afridi’s new ball burst backfired as Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan and Salman Ali Agha failed to trouble the Indian batters in the rain-curtailed encounter. The spin trio leaked 131 runs in 21 overs against India. Returning back into the attack, Afridi bagged the crucial wicket of Pandya (87) to restrict India to 266 in 48.5 overs.

‘Babar’s mindset has to be aggressive’

Pacer Afridi bagged four wickets and leaked 35 runs in 10 overs. “He is a far more better captain than he was two years ago. Babar’s mindset has to be aggressive he should keep thinking about taking wickets and bowl out the opposition, and not let the bowlers bowl the entire 50 overs,” Akhtar added.