Dinesh Karthik ‘fears’ for Pakistan players after shock defeat to USA: ‘Babar Azam is letting us down’

Pakistan faced a stunning defeat at the hands of USA in their opening T20 World Cup match on Thursday.

Pakistan faced one of the biggest upsets in the T20 World Cup history on Thursday, as the side faced a Super Over defeat at the hands of newcomers USA in their opening match of the 2024 edition in Dallas. After being restricted to 159/7 in their 20 overs, Pakistan couldn't suppress the US run-chase, with the side reaching 159/3, forcing a Super Over. A poor display by Mohammad Amir – as he bowled three wides – saw the US scoring 18/1 in their six deliveries, and the hosts then restricted Babar Azam's men to 13, clinching a historic win.

Pakistan's Babar Azam during the practice session (Action Images via Reuters)

Following the match, Pakistan captain Babar Azam didn't mince his words as he spoke in detail about the side's stunning defeat, attributing the early loss of wickets and poor batting display as the major reasons. However, Babar's remarks didn't sit well with former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who criticised the Pakistan skipper for not backing his players publicly.

Babar was newly appointed as Pakistan's captain in his second stint before the World Cup earlier this year, and Karthik said that most of the players in the side are “vulnerable,” with a fair few, including Amir making a comeback to the side after many years.

“As a leader, you need to find a way to be diplomatic in press conferences, somehow find a way to back your players. Inside the four walls of the dressing room, you can say what you want and have a go at a few people, but you need to find a way to back your players. It's one thing to be honest, another thing to try to understand the team dynamics,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.

“He's newly appointed a captain. A lot of players are vulnerable right now, and he needs to back them. He needs to say, 'yes, it was a bad day. We probably could've done certain things better, but we will make sure once we get on a roll, we have special players'. That's the kind of language. To state that we didn't play well in the first six overs, we lost too many wickets... it's stating the obvious.”

Letting the players down

Karthik suggested that Babar's comments in press conference will certainly let the players down ahead of the side's high-pressure encounter against arch-rivals India on Sunday.

"I fear Pakistan players reading it, which they will be, will feel he's ‘letting us down’. The way he's conducted himself at the field, having a go after the boundaries or his shoulders dropping, isn't a sign of a good leader.

“He needs to find a way to find body language to suggest he's fine with whatever's happening, and they can come around. Yes, showing disappointment is fine, but there's a way to show it where the players don't get even more nervous than they already are.”