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Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has been under the fire of critics ever since his team’s subpar performance against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 14. Although the batter scored his first half-century by hammered a decent 50 runs off 58 balls in the contest against the Men in Blue, his strike rate was questioned by some fans and experts.
While many are expressing their disappointment with Babar failing to contribute to Pakistan’s win, India’s veteran batter Gautam Gambhir has shared a valuable piece of advice for the right-handed batter.
Gautam Gambhir’s advice to Babar Azam and Shahid Afridi reference
In his recent discussion with Sportskeeda, Gambhir asked Babar to take up the responsibility and change his defensive approach. He even highlighted how attacking batters have proved to be so crucial for Pakistan in the past by giving the references of Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail.
“Pakistan have had a history of attacking batters – Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, Saeed Anwar, and Aamer Sohail. In the present top three, everyone bats in similar mode. If someone has to take responsibility, it has to be their captain, who bats at No. 3,” said Gambhir.
Also READ: Dinesh Karthik provides crucial advice to Pakistan after their crushing loss to India
Gambhir discusses how personal milestones are forgotten in the long run
Gambhir further also talked about personal stats and opined that no batter is remembered for personal milestones if the team doesn’t win. The 42-year-old even gave the examples of legendary Wasim Akram and Mahela Jayawardene to support his point.
“There is no point looking at stats. You may become Pakistan’s leading run-getter, but legacy is created by winning tournaments, not individual records. Wasim Akram took three wickets in the 1992 World Cup final. He did not pick up a five-fer, but everybody talks about it because they won the World Cup. Nobody talks about Mahela Jayawardene’s hundred in the 2011 final. Everyone remembers that India won the match,” elaborated Gambhir.
Pakistan’s campaign in the ODI World Cup 2023
As far as Pakistan’s ODI World Cup 2023 campaign is concerned, the Green Team currently is placed on the fourth position in the points table with two wins in three games and will next face Australia at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 20.
