World Cup 2023: Dav Whatmore says Pakistan's Babar Azam needs support of senior players to be successful
Babar Azam
Former Australian cricketer DavWhatmore believes Pakistan men's cricket team captain Babar Azam needs the support of senior players in the team to be successful in the World Cup that kicked off on Thursday (October 5) in India.
WION's cricket expert and World Cup-winning coach with Sri Lanka in 1996 said Babar is still a youngster, despite being handed the captaincy reins years ago.
"He is still a youngster when it comes to captaincy. His leadership is improving. What he needs is the support of senior players around him," said Whatmore.
According to Whatmore, Babar had already made his mark and earned respect from his compatriots by letting his bat do the talking. However, now was the time that the players around him galvanised and backed him for the mega event.
"He certainly is leading from the front with the bat, he's earning their respect there but he needs all the respect and support from the senior players. Hopefully he will get that."
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Pakistan's opening group game
Pakistan will be squaring up against underdogs Netherlands in their opening encounter at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday (October 6). The team will be coming into the contest on the back of a string of below-par performances.
The Men-in-Green were touted to win the Asia Cup held in Sri Lanka and Pakistan last month but failed to turn up. The team was pulverised by a strong Indian XI and never managed to recover from thereon. It failed to reach the final as Sri Lanka pipped them.
The warmup games ahead of the WCC gave more headache to Babar Azam and co. as the bowling department looked a pale shadow of its former self. The team could not defend a 340+ total against New Zealand and conceded as many runs in the second warm-up against Australia.
The absence of Naseem Shah, who was ruled out of the WC, just weeks before the start has come as a blow to Pakistan's chances at the marquee event. If Shaheen Afridi fails to get going in the initial overs with the new ball, Pakistan rarely does have a B-plan, experts argue, and that will be the biggest test of Babar's captaincy.
Pakistan squad:
Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.
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