‘The captain alone is not playing the game…’ – Wasim Akram backs Babar Azam after latter faces backlash for ODI World Cup 2023 campaign

Pakistan got eliminated from the knockout contention of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 after a horrific run of form in the tournament, losing 5 out of the 9 matches, they played in the tournament. Following this dismal run, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is also facing huge criticism and backlash from a lot of cricket experts and former Pakistan cricketers as well.

Notably, Pakistan faced England in the last league match of their ODI World Cup 2023 campaign on Saturday, November 11 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The men in green lost to the Three Lions by a margin of 93 runs to end their campaign with a defeat.

Meanwhile, the former Pakistan skipper and legendary pacer of his era, Wasim Akram came up in Babar Azam’s support; Akram felt that it was not only Babar Azam who was on the line of fault but there was a lapse in the entire system, with which a team gets prepared.

“Captaincy has put pressure on Babar’s performance.” – Babar Azam

“The captain alone is not playing the game. Yes, he also made captaincy errors in this World Cup and the Asia Cup. But he isn’t alone to blame. This is a fault of the entire system for the last year or more where the players don’t know who the coach is. You cannot make him the scapegoat here,” said Wasim Akram during The Pavillion Show on A Sports.

“Babar is a star player and when he scores the entire nation becomes happy and proud. But captaincy has put pressure on Babar’s performance. He indeed looked stressed, both in the World Cup and Asia Cup. So, he needs to learn how to handle pressure, think only as a batsman, and get runs when he is at the crease. It is easier said than done,” he added later.

Interestingly, Babar Azam also made a big statement during his press conference while discussing criticism from the former Pakistan cricketers. Babar said, “They all have my number, they can message or call me directly, it is easy to criticize over TV but it costs nothing to interact with me in a direct message or a call.”