New Delhi, India

Former Indian stumper Parthiv Patel termed Babar Azam 'selfish' following Pakistan's T20 World Cup 2024 debacle, held in West Indies and the USA. In the just-concluded 20-nation mega event, won by India, the Babar-led Men in Green failed to reach the Super 8 stage. They were placed in Group A alongside India, USA, Canada and Ireland and lost to India and USA before winning their last two games. They, however, failed to reach the Super 8 and, thus, Babar coped with a lot of criticism for his ordinary batting and captaincy. 

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During a recent chat show, Parthiv spoke at length on Pakistan's failure at the T20 WC and reasoned out 'selfish' captain Babar for it.  He said on the YouTube show Cyrus Says, "They have a very weak team now. Look at the team they used to have —Inzamam ul Haq, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis, Yousuf Yohana, Saqlain Mushtaq and now Babar Azam, Rizwan."

Also read: ‘Wanted to have a piece of it with me’: Rohit on why he had a bite of Barbados pitch after India’s T20 WC win

Parthiv slammed Pakistan's decision to send swashbuckling batter Fakhar Zaman at No. 4 in the T20 WC. He reckoned that the move was made because Babar wanted to continue batting at the top. In this regard, he said, "Captain wanted to open, so he had to come down. If the captain is a selfish player, there’s no chance."

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When asked by actor Saiyami on whether he was being too harsh on Babar, Parthiv added, "But I’ve said all of this. There’s nothing new in it. Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, everyone says that."

Recently, in another talk show, former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik also slammed Babar and stated that he won't make it to the playing XI of top T20I teams such as India, Australia and England. 

Babar ended the T20 WC with 122 runs at a strike-rate of 101.66 in four matches. The right-hander's future as the white-ball captain has come under scrutiny and it will be interesting to see if he is asked to continue.