With Babar-Azam led Pakistani team failed to impress in the nail-biting ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 match against India at Narendra Modi stadium on 14 October, losing to the home team by 7 wickets, former Pakistani cricketer Ramiz Raja was extremely critical of how Pakistan competed.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief targeted Babar Azam for not living up to expectations in the high-profile fixture. Despite Azam’s first One Day International (ODI) against India, it wasn’t enough to help Pakistan register a respectable total.
Babar’s Pakistan side suffered a shocking batting collapse as the 1992 world champions were bowled out for 191 in just 42.5 overs. While India cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket in just 30.3 overs.
ALSO READ: ‘Ek match se kaptaani nahi mili hai..’: Babar Azam shuts down ‘captaincy’ question before India Pakistan clash
Miffed at Pakistan’s no-show against Pakistan, Ramiz explained how the heavy defeat would impact the World Cup campaign of the team. “This should hurt Pakistan because they weren’t able to compete. When you’re playing against India it’s such an environment where it’s 99 percent of India fans and crowds, you’re overwhelmed. I understand all of that. But Babar Azam has led this side for a good four or five years, so you’ve got to rise to the occasion. If you can’t win, then at least compete. Pakistan wasn’t able to do that,” Hindustan Times quoted Ramiz as saying on The ICC Review podcast.
India have registered wins over its bitter rivals in 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023 edition of the 50-over World Cup, and now are 8-0. Before Team India thrashed Babar’s men in the 2023 World Cup, they were also unbeaten.
‘Pakistan can’t be termed as chokers against India’
“It’s a reality and Pakistan has got to do something about it. They can’t be termed as ‘chokers’ against India because that’s not a great tag to have. Somehow it’s a mental block, it’s a skill block as well. Credit to India for maintaining their presence in World Cup competitions against Pakistan, it’s not an easy match for India also because there are emotions involved, there are expectations involved. Then you’re supposed to win because it has been happening for so many years that this can get you under a little bit of extra pressure. But they’ve handled it so well,” Ramiz added.
‘It’s a scarring, it’s a pasting!’
“It’s going to hurt them. It’s a scarring, it’s a pasting, it’s a battering and they’ve been outpaced and outplayed in all three departments. Babar Azam and the senior players will have to rally around some of the young kids and have got to find an answer. They’ve got to be brutally honest in those team meetings. I think that is where Pakistan needs to start. On the drawing board saying that our spin has been struggling, we shouldn’t get out after scoring 50 or a 49, and what were the tailenders doing?” Ramiz questioned.
India Vs Pakistan Scorecard:
Batting first, Pakistan could manage to score only 191 runs in 42.5 overs, with only Babar Azam (50) and Mohammad Rizwan (49) scoring in the game. All the bowlers Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, and spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with 2 wickets each.
Chasing 192, India’s Rohit Sharma scored 86 off 63 balls followed by an unbeaten half-century from Shreyas Iyer, which led India to seven-wicket at the world’s largest cricket stadium.
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Updated: 15 Oct 2023, 08:24 PM IST
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Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
