Gautam Gambhir formally advises the skipper Babar Azam to change his personality, batting, and leadership style after Pakistan’s defeat against India in the World Cup 2023.
Gambhir’s advice to Babar Azam after defeat in Ahmedabad
India won the match against their rivals Pakistan on October 14 at Narendra Modi Stadium. On this occasion, former batter Gambhir thinks Babar Azam should develop leadership skills that could help him to lead the side.
According to Gambhir, he may possess talent and become Pakistan’s all-time leading run-getter, but he lacks the skills required to win the tournament.
India beat Pakistan with seven wickets where Pakistan was folded for 191 runs. India chased the target in 30.3 overs. With this win, India maintained their unbeaten streak against Pakistan in ODI World Cups.
While speaking in an interview, Gambhir said, “Babar Azam has been extremely timid. Two batters cannot bat the same way in a partnership, one of them has to take chances. If you are playing for a fifty or your runs, you will get such results,” said Gambhir.
“Babar Azam has scored a lot of runs for himself but it’s been Pakistan’s history that they have liked to bat aggressively at the start, whether it was Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, or Taufeeq Umar, and they consolidate in the middle. However, here in the top three, there isn’t a single batter who can take on the opposition attack,” Gambhir added.
“It was an extremely bad shot. You don’t expect such a shot from a world-class batter. You had scored 50 runs and played nearly 60 balls, you knew there wasn’t much bounce and it was not the length where you could have played the late cut. You could have punched it,” said Gambhir.
He also said that Babar Azam needs to change a lot of things, including Pakistan’s identity as a team. He also recalled the incident from World Cup 1992 where Wasim Akram took three wickets in the finals helping the side to win the World Cup.
While Jayawardene’s hundred in the World Cup 2011 finals is not speaking as they lost the match. “There is no point looking at stats. You may become Pakistan’s leading run-getter, but the legacy is created by winning tournaments, not individual records. Wasim Akram took three wickets in the 1992 World Cup final.
He did not pick up a five-fer, but everybody talks about it because they won the World Cup. Nobody talks about Mahela Jayawardene’s hundred in the 2011 final. Everyone remembers that India won the match.”
He said while comparing Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma in Ahmedabad match, former cricketer commented that the difference in mindset is visible.
“The team plays how the captain plays. Both Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma scored fifties,” he explained. “One scored a 50, other scored an 80. None of them scored a hundred, but it was the approach that was the difference. If Pakistan were chasing 190, their mindset would have been just to win the game, whether they get there in 35 or 40 overs.”
He added that Rohit came out to bat, it was not just about winning the game, but making a statement by playing aggressive cricket.
“It is important for the captain to take responsibility. If the captain is defensive, the team will be defensive. You can’t tell the 10 other players in the room that, ‘you play positive, I will play [anchor] from one end’,” the former cricketer concluded.
Facing defeat against India, Pakistan will be facing Australia on October 20 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
