Last Update on: November 11th, 2023 at 10:23 am
Former Pakistan allrounder Imad Wasim has said Babar Azam should step down as the captain of the side after the World Cup debacle. Pakistan are on the verge of getting knocked out of the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
While they are still mathematically alive in the competition, they will need nothing less than a miracle to make it to the semifinals of an ODI World Cup for the first time since 2011. The Babar Azam-led side is currently in the fifth spot with 8 points from 8 games. In their final league game, they will be up against England at the Eden Gardens.
Even a win against the reigning champions will not be enough for the 1992 World Cup winners to progress to the next round. While Pakistan can match fourth-placed New Zealand’s points tally, their poor net run-rate is set to shatter their hopes of making it to the semifinal. They need to win the game by an improbable margin of 287 runs to advance. In case Pakistan bowls first, they will have to dismiss England for 50 runs and chase the target in two overs or 100 runs in three overs.
Imad Wasim asks Babar Azam to leave captaincy:
With Pakistan failing to live up to the expectations in the ongoing World Cup, Imad Wasim has said Babar Azam should step down as the captain of the side. Speaking to GEO TV, the veteran allrounder said that a captain should step down after failing to deliver in the World Cup.
“When you lose the World Cup, you should step down; it’s a simple matter,” said Imad Wasim.
When the host of the show reminded the allrounder that Sarfaraz Ahmed had not stepped down after the failure in the 2019 World Cup, he said: “No player has done that. So, I’m saying this not just for Babar but for every player. If you can’t deliver as a leader, you should step down.”
Imad Wasim says Babar Azam should step down as Pakistan captain because he failed to deliver in this World Cup 👀 #CWC23 #PAKvsENG pic.twitter.com/P4SKaCKiFz
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) November 11, 2023
Meanwhile, Babar Azam has said that he has still not given up on his team’s chances of progressing ahead in the World Cup. Speaking to the media on the eve of the game against England, the Pakistan captain said:
“It’s not like this matter is not in the back of the mind. It’s in our mind and we will try to do it. But we can’t just go in and start firing blindly — we want that but with proper planning, how we want to play the first 10 overs, then the next 20 — how we have to achieve that target.
“There are a lot of things in this, like partnerships, which player will stay on the pitch for how long. I would say if Fakhar is in the match for 20 or 30 overs, we can achieve that. We can do this and we have planned for this,” he added.
