File photo of Pakistan cricket team skipper Babar Azam© AFP
Pakistan did not have a good outing in the Asia Cup 2023 as the Babar Azam-led side failed to reach the final after two defeats in the Super 4 stage. While the loss against Sri Lanka came after a close-fought encounter that was decided on the last ball, they were completely outplayed by India who beat them by 228 runs. It was a disappointing batting and bowling performance from the side and former Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal believes that if they do not change their mentality before the Cricket World Cup 2023, they can get “thrashed badly” by the other teams and especially rivals India.
“Mohammed Shami is on the bench, he doesn’t play in this XI. That shows you it’s a complete bowling unit. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma are in form, Shubman Gill scored a century recently, so it looks a solid batting unit. I’ll just say that for the match we have on October 14, Pakistan team need to plan really well to put them under pressure,” Kamran said on his official YouTube channel.
“If they play with the same mentality as the Asia Cup, and the way we played for the past three years, they’re going to get thrashed badly. They need to prepare really well.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan legends Javed Miandad and Misbah ul Haq on Tuesday defended Babar Azam, saying the captain should not be squarely blamed for the below-par performance.
Talking to the media, Miandad and Misbah both advised the country’s cricket authorities to not press the panic button. “Why blame Babar Azam only when the rest of the team didn’t perform as well in the Asia Cup matches against India and Sri Lanka,” Miandad said.
Both the stalwarts, who have played World Cups in India, also advised the players to not let the thought of playing the mega-event in India affect them psychologically.
“Look our team is not as bad as it played in the Asia Cup. It has plenty of potential to do well in the World Cup. Only thing is how quickly our players cope and adjust to playing in Indian conditions before big crowds and in a country where they will encounter some hostility,” Miandad said.
(With PTI inputs)
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