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The Pakistan cricket team’s humiliating 1-run loss to Zimbabwe has opened pandora’s box, with several former cricketers severely criticising Babar Azam‘s captaincy and a number of other players’ performances. Even ex-Pakistan batter, Salman Butt, targeted the Pakistani batters for their poor shot selection against Zimbabwe, suggesting they need to learn from the likes of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav on how to play proper cricketing shots. Butt didn’t mince his words as he bombarded Babar Azam and his players with critical questions.
Babar Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan are the top 2 batters in the ICC T20I rankings. But, their performances in the T20 World Cup 2022 haven’t been reflective of their stature.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Butt cited the example of Kohli and Suryakumar, highlighting how the two applied themselves against the Netherlands, guiding Team India to a solid victory.
“If you want to learn from a high-skilled batter, look at Virat Kohli. He was not out today as well. The six which he hit over covers (vs Netherlands) at the SCG, that was the second shot of the tournament. The six against Pakistan, and now vs Netherlands. Both are shots of the tournament. Look at the finesse and quality. He was in top form, but he didn’t show any unnecessary eagerness to score runs. He took his time as Rohit Sharma playing aggressive cricket, which was the right thing to do as his form, too, isn’t the best at the moment. He hit a few boundaries, got out of that shell and scored a fifty.
“When one player is taking the risks, the other one, if he is sensible plays second fiddle. They are actually the top two batters in the world. But, Virat batted sensibly without thinking that I won the previous match and I’m the number one batter. As long as Rohit Sharma kept going, he batter with ease. He picked up the pace for some time, but changed the gear again once Suryakumar Yadav came out,” said the former Pakistani cricketer.
Butt even highlighted how Kohli and Surya found gaps against the Dutch and kept the scoreboard ticking without playing risky shots.
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“Look at the shots of Virat and Suryakumar. Those were proper cricketing shots. They were playing with the field by rotating strikes and finding the gaps once the fielders were up in the circle. They were pre-empting the deliveries and setting the field for themselves,” he said.
The defeat against Zimbabwe puts Pakistan all but out of the tournament. Only if a number of other results go their way can Pakistan return to semi-finals qualification contention. As things stand, Pakistan might be heading back home sooner than they had expected.
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