World Cup 2023 - He doesn’t have class: Abdul Razzaq on star Pakistan batter failing to win games on his own

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has already faced enough wrath for his approach and inability to convert his starts into match-winning performances in this ODI World Cup 2023. Although Pakistan remains in the race for the semis, Babar’s performance, despite several fifties, have put him under the radar. Former T20 World Cup winner Abdul Razzaq compared Babar with India skipper Rohit Sharma, saying the Pakistan captain lacks that class.

While Rohit is in the top five run-getters thus far, having hit two fifties and a hundred, Babar is not even in the top 15, despite crossing the fifty-run mark four times. Even against New Zealand in Bengaluru, he scored run-a-ball 66, while Fakhar Zaman’s unbeaten 126 off 81 balls helped Pakistan stay ahead on DLS score, which saw them winning by 20 runs.

Razzaq said Babar could be the ranked number one ODI batter, but he doesn’t play like one, failing to convert his starts into match-winning performances and that has affected Pakistan’s performance in this edition.

“No 1 batter is Fakhar Zaman. All New Zealand batters were praising him. Our captain doesn’t have that class. Look at Rohit; he is ready to score 10 runs in the first over and then 15 in the second. Our captain has a different playing style, but he should see what Rohit is doing."

“World-class players are the ones who take the game away from the opposition. In our time, it was Matthew Hayden, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting,” the former Pakistan all-rounder added.

Razzaq lauds Kohli, Rohit for Team India’s success

In the lead-up to this World Cup, Pakistan was regarded as one of the favourites to reach the semis; however, considering their standings (on the points table) and performances, the Men in Green have looked far from convincing.

Razzaq noted how Virat and Rohit’s performance has pushed the morale in the Indian dressing room and helped them win all eight contested matches thus far.

“They are playing for their nation. Look at Virat Kohli’s reaction when other batters hit the runs, he celebrates like he has scored."

“Bowlers are attacking, batters are attacking. Two months ago, Pakistan bowlers were attacking, and that’s why we were doing so well. We called them the World's No 1 attack. The same unit is not taking wickets, now we are questioning our bowlers, it happens in cricket. I will give this credit to Rohit Sharma for his team unity and with the confidence they are playing,” Razzaq said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan need to beat England in their last league game to make it to the top four and expect a few other results to fall in their favour, whereas, India and South Africa are two teams that have sealed their semis berths.