Pakistan captain Babar Azam under scrutiny after team’s third consecutive loss in ODI World Cup 2023

Pakistan lost its third consecutive match in the ODI World Cup 2023. After beginning the tournament on a good note, Pakistan has now fallen in a big way. The former World Champions won the first match of the tournament by beating Netherlands. In the second match, Pakistan chased the highest score in the history of the ODI World Cup to beat Sri Lanka.

Till then, everything was fine with Pakistan. But since then, everything has gone downhill for Pakistan. In their last three encounters, they have suffered losses. Against the arch-rivals India, Pakistan lost by 7 wickets. In the very next game against Australia, Pakistan lost in Bengaluru by 62 runs. But the latest loss in the tournament would hurt Pakistan a lot.

For the first time in the history of the ODI World Cup, Pakistan lost to Afghanistan. It has rattled Pakistan completely. The team’s chance to enter the semifinal of the tournament has now been reduced by a huge margin. In 5 matches in the tournament, Pakistan has 2 wins and 3 losses. With 4 matches left in their campaign, Pakistan is in almost a must-win situation to win all the matches of the tournament.

Babar Azam’s captaincy receives heavy criticism

The hat-trick of losses from Pakistan has led to criticism from the fans, critics, and former cricketers. In particular, the captain is under heavy scrutiny. Babar Azam has received huge criticism from the fans. many are asking the management to sack Babar from his captaincy. Many fans questioned some of the decisions of Babar in the tournament. It is a huge concern for the team ahead of their last 4 matches in the tournament.

The bowling changes, the lack of planning, the lack of game awareness, the ability to think in crunch situations, the ability to make important decisions in crunch moments, and several aspects of Babar’s captaincy were pointed out and criticized by the fans. If Babar does not get results from his team, he might well attract more criticism in future. Pakistan would want their best batter to be an able captain.