
Pakistan find themselves at a precarious position in the T20 World Cup 2022 edition. After three encounters in the Super 12, the Men in Green have won just one game and lost two thrilling contests (including one against Zimbabwe).
Opening their campaign versus India, the Babar Azam-led side lost on the final ball whereas they fell short versus Zimbabwe as well, once again losing on the last delivery of a low-scoring thriller. With two more games to go, Pakistan need a miracle to qualify ahead. Amid their T20 WC woes, former Indian opener-turned-commentator Gautam Gambhir has slammed Babar and called him a selfish captain.
"In my opinion, first, you think about your team instead of yourself; if nothing goes according to your plan, you should have sent Fakhar Zaman up the batting order. This is called selfishness; as a captain, it is easy to be selfish. It is easy for Babar and Rizwan to open the innings for Pakistan and create so many records. If you want to be a leader, you have to think about your team," said Gambhir in commentary during the Pakistan-Netherlands game, which the former won by six wickets in pursuit of a paltry 92 on October 30 (Sunday) in Perth.
Pakistan didn't pick Fakhar Zaman for their opening two games and when they included him for the Dutch encounter, he batted at No. 3 with a struggling Babar still retaining his opening slot, with Md Rizwan. In the recent past, both Rizwan and Babar have been slammed for their low strike rate and similar playing styles, which many believe are hurting Pakistan's progress with the bat.
After Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe by a run, Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar had raised concerns with regard to the opening pair and said on his Youtube channel,"I don't know why is it so hard for you guys to understand. I have said this before, and I am saying it again that with our top and middle-order, we can't achieve big success. We can't win consistently. Pakistan have a bad captain. Pakistan are out of the World Cup. Nawaz has bowled the last over in the three games we have lost."