Shoaib Akhtar: “He has to win the games, if he doesn’t, he won’t be able to keep his place in T20Is. I am telling you right now. He won’t be able to find his place in ODIs if he can’t finish”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Iconic Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar has warned limited overs captain Babar Azam that he could lose his spot in the T20I and ODI teams if he does not learn how to finish games again.
The Rawalpindi Express also expects Azam to be demoted to number four from the number three spot, but urged him to start becoming a dominant force.
Since Azam has won many matches for Pakistan in the past, the Rawalpindi Express knows the 29-year-old can do it again.
“What’s going to happen to Babar now? He is now going to come down at number 4. He has to finish the games. He has to win the games, if he doesn’t, he won’t be able to keep his place in T20Is. I am telling you right now. He won’t be able to find his place in ODIs if he can’t finish,” Akhtar was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“The finisher Babar has to come out again. That’s when the character comes out. He needs to get in that kind of a position. I am bluntly telling this to Babar, you need to remain a superstar. Get to know how to finish games.”
Azam recently captained Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup and accumulated 122 runs in four matches at an average of 40.66 and a strike-rate of 101.66.
The men in green lost to the United States of America and India before bouncing back to take down Canada and Ireland.
Despite winning their last two group stage games, Pakistan failed to progress to the Super Eights.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed