Babar Azam: “Our spinners aren’t taking wickets, which doesn’t help. That has a big effect because you need to take wickets in the middle overs”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam has lashed out at the team’s spinners for their lack of impact in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
The trio of Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz and Usama Mir were all backed to take wickets in the middle overs, but that didn’t happen regularly enough.
Shadab finished with two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23, while Nawaz claimed two wickets in five games at an average of 111.50 and an economy rate of 5.89.
As for Mir, he picked up four wickets in four matches at an average of 62 and an economy rate of 7.08.
Azam admitted that their inability to make breakthroughs in the middle overs had a “big effect” on the team’s overall performance.
“Our spinners aren’t taking wickets, which doesn’t help. That has a big effect because you need to take wickets in the middle overs,” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing four in a row to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite fighting back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to progress to the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign in dismal fashion as England crushed them by 93 runs.
Azam, who stepped down as captain after the World Cup, will now play in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, but Shadab, Nawaz and Mir were not included in the 18-man squad.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will start on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi