Babar Azam's captaincy needs to sharpen: Akhtar reacts after Pakistan lose to Sri Lanka to bow out of Asia Cup

Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in both the sides' last Super Four clash of Asia Cup 2023, on Thursday (September 14), which was a virtual semi-final showdown in a bid to join India in the tournament final on Sunday (September 17). Locking horns at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Babar Azam-led Men in Green opted to bat first in a rain-marred contest -- which was reduced to 42 overs a side -- and posted a healthy 252 for 7 riding on Md Rizwan's 86*, Abdullah Shafique's 52 and Iftikhar Ahmed's 47.

Chasing 252 (due to the DLS method), Sri Lanka held their innings beautifully courtesy of Kusal Mendis' 91 andSadeera Samarawickrama's 47 and were well-placed at 210for 4 in 35 overs before a collapse saw them needing eight off the last six. Eventually, Charith Asalanka's 49 not-out helped the Islanders edge past the Men in Green to set up a final clash versus Rohit Sharma's Team India.

After Pakistan's exit, Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar reacted to their early exit and feels Babar Azam's captaincy needs to be 'sharpened' ahead of the ODI World Cup, commencing in India early next month.

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'Pakistanwere touted as the 'favourites' but are out of the tournament'

"You've seen the match. Pakistan are out of the tournament. The match that was made in favour of Pakistan, was all done by Zaman Khan. He landed the day before yesterday and this boy did excellent bowling in the Pakistan Super League. Whatever chances Pakistan had of winning the match were all because of him. Shaheen Afridi also got a few wickets but credit goes to Zaman. He bowled really well,"Akhtar said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Akhtar opined, "Pakistan deserved to win, go to the Asia Cup final but they are out of the tournament. They can be criticised a lot as they were touted as the 'favourites' but are out of the tournament now. Unfortunately, there can't be a Pakistan vs India match in the final, it has never happened (kabhi Pakistan, India ka match (final) ho nahi sakta, kabhi hua nahi). This was the chance but Sri Lanka deserved to be the finalists. They were the far better team."

"Having said that this is a very embarrassing loss. The fact that Pakistan are out of the tournament, doesn't look nice. Pakistan have a lot to think about. The captaincy needs to sharpen up a bit. I am very disappointed. Can't say more," the former pacer concluded.

Pakistan -- the No. 1 ODI side -- started the tournament on a roll but fell apart after their 228-run Super Four loss to India early this week. While they competed well versus the Lankans, they never applied enough pressure with the ball in the middle overs to finish second. Injury concerns to Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, overdependence on Shaheen Afridi and Babar's struggles in the Super Four led to their exit.

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