‘You cannot make him the scapegoat….’ – Wasim Akram defends Babar Azam after Pakistan gets knocked out of ODI World Cup 2023

Pakistan cricket team are out of the ODI World Cup 2023 after defending champions England thrashed them in their must-win encounter to qualify for the semi-final spot. Notably, Babar Azam and co. are currently in the fifth spot with just four wins and five losses, which puts them out of the tournament ahead of the knockout games. The Men in Green were only able to beat Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Bangladesh and failed to gain wins over the top teams.

However, following their losses, a plethora of cricket fans and pundits have started blaming Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for his losses and claiming that he should resign from the captaincy post after his team gets knocked out in the marquee event.

Meanwhile, former Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram came out in support of Babar Azam and defended him while making some bold statements. The legendary cricketer reiterated that one cannot blame only the 29-year-old skipper, as the whole team was part of the event and everyone should be equally blamed.

“The captain alone is not playing the game. Yes, he did make captaincy errors in this World Cup and in the Asia Cup as well. 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 is the coach. You cannot make him the scapegoat here,” Wasim Akram said on A Sports.

Babar Azam needs to learn how to handle pressure: Wasim Akram

Moreover, the former right-arm pacer heaps praise on the Lahore-born cricketer and says that he makes happy with his performances. However, Wasim Akram feels that captaincy pressure was the reason for his poor performances in the ODI World Cup 2023. The well-renowned cricket commentator also suggested a few tips to handle the captaincy pressure.

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