Before the World Cup had kicked off in Ahmedabad earlier this month, Gautam Gambhir was asked who would emerge as the most impactful player in the 2023 edition and without an inch of hesitation, the former India opener backed Babar Azam to take the tournament by storm having dominated the format as the No. 1 ranked batter since the summer of 2021. Three weeks hence, as Pakistan stooped to a World Cup low on Friday after a fourth consecutive loss to have their campaign on a wing and a prayer, Gambhir took a sharp U-turn on his old remark questioning how Babar ever became the world No. 1 ranked batter in ODIs.
Bouncing back from his poor start to the World Cup, Babar notched up a fifty against India, his very first against the side in ODIs, and then put up a valiant 74 against Afghanistan before scoring a third fifty against South Africa in Chennai on Friday. But none were in a winning cause. Speaking to Star Sports after Pakistan's one-wicket loss to Proteas, Gambhir questioned the hype around Babar based on his domination in ICC rankings chart and his tally of 19 hundreds in the 50-over game. He reckoned that keeping all records aside, Babar is yet to play that big knock where the batter can show that he can single-handedly turn the game around and win it for Pakistan.
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"You want to talk about Babar's captaincy and his batting...he scored three fifties in the last six games. I don't know why he is No.1 ranked ICC batter. Yes he has scored a lot of runs in the last two years. He has 19 centuries to his name but records and rankings are all too very overrated. A No.1 player is that who helps you win matches. He has scored a lot of runs but is yet to play an impactful knock where he has single-handedly won the game for the team. He scored three fifties in this World Cup but Pakistan went past 300 only once, against Australia, which they eventually lost," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"You want to talk about Babar's captaincy and his batting...he scored three fifties in the last six games. I don't know why he is No.1 ranked ICC batter. Yes he has scored a lot of runs in the last two years. He has 19 centuries to his name but records and rankings are all too very overrated. A No.1 player is that who helps you win matches. He has scored a lot of runs but is yet to play an impactful knock where he has single-handedly won the game for the team. He scored three fifties in this World Cup but Pakistan went past 300 only once, against Australia, which they eventually lost," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Batting legend Virender Sehwag, in conversation with Cricbuzz, spoke much on the same lines, explaining that a great player will always want to convert their starts into big scores, and alleged that the Pakistan skipper seems to be happy by keeping his place in the XI with just half-century knocks.
"It wasn't a bad innings. Pakistan lost two early wickets and he held one end, helping the team to revive. But is he satisfied with just a 50? No. Any other No. 3 batter would want to take that 50 and convert it into a big score. Had he done that, Pakistan would have ended with 300-plus total. And that is where the difference is drawn. Great players don't let go of such opportunities. Babar Azam is using his form to the extent that he only keeps his place in the side," he said.
Picking up on the lines of "great players", former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez questioned whether Babar should be placed in that group as said that people who have hailed him so “probably haven’t seen greats of the game”.
“It’s not like his performances are bad,” he said speaking on a TV show in Pakistan. “As a cricketer, as a player his performances are good but, unfortunately, the expectations from him and the comparisons with him aren’t fair. He is a very, very good player – in the pool of players currently in Pakistan, he is the best player. But when you compare him with greats, then it’s unfair with Babar’s talent.
“When he’s called a great Pakistan player, then I have doubts over it. Those who say that probably haven’t seen greats of the game – from Pakistan and around the world. Yes, he is a very, very good player. He is not great yet. He has to prove a lot of right things – and there are stages yet to come in his career. We are putting a tag on him before he’s reached those stages. That’s pressure on him, and when he’s not able to perform in big tournaments, the load of expectations is so high, that people then deal it in a wrong way.”