'Babar Azam must come out of this average mindset': Shahid Afridi slams Pakistan captain's timid approach
Shahid Afridi slammed Babar Azam over his timid approach.
Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has slammed Babar Azam asking him to come out of his average mindset. Afridi was not happy with Babar's timid approach during Pakistan's recent clash against Bangladesh in the ongoing tri-series in New Zealand.
Afridi's comments came in response to Babar's views ahead of Pakistan's game against Bangladesh in Christchurch. When asked about what kind of target they were looking to set for Bangladesh, Babar had said the Men in Green were looking at something close to 160.
Pakistan went on to post 167 runs on the board batting first and ended up winning the game comfortably by 21 runs. However, Babar's comments didn't go down well with Afridi, who has advised the Pakistan skipper to ditch his timid approach in T20Is and look at setting up big totals against all kinds of teams.
"Babar must come out of this average mindset and think big. If scoring 160 runs for the target against Bangladesh was his big intent, then what is he going to do against stronger teams," said Afridi.
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While he criticised Babar for his approach, Afridi extended support to his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan, who has also been facing criticism from all corners over his sluggish approach with the bat. Both Babar and Rizwan have been slammed by many for failing to accelerate quickly as a result of which the team suffers when setting up targets.
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However, Afridi urged Rizwan to continue playing the way he has been and ignore the critics. Rizwan is currently the top-ranked T20 batter in the world and has been a consistent run-getter for Pakistan in the shortest format.
"The actual thing is the beginning. Babar and Rizwan should score the chunk of runs [for other batters]. Rizwan shouldn't listen to anyone," said Afridi.
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Pakistan will lock horns with New Zealand in the final of the ongoing T20I tri-series on October 14 before leaving for Australia for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022. The Men in Green will begin their campaign against arch-rivals India at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on October 23.