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Cricket Players'I heard Babar cried...': Yousuf details PAK dressing-room scene after AFG loss; Shahid Afridi fumes at his captaincy
The eight-wicket defeat against Afghanistan has left Pakistan's campaign hanging by a thread.
A shock World Cup defeat to Afghanistan have rattled Pakistan. The former champions of the 50-over event incurred their third successive loss on the trot, which includes defeat against India and Australia as well, but the eight-wicket hammering from Afghanistan has left Pakistan's campaign hanging by a thread.
On Monday, in Chennai, Pakistan incurred their very first ODI defeat against their neighbour as the likes of Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah and Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored their respective fifties to successfully complete their chase of 283 runs with an over to spare. Following the shock loss, Babar Azam's captaincy has been immensely criticised with veterans and experts lashing out at the youngster, who had scored a fighting half-century knock in the game. However, former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Yousuf revealed that the skipper has been left disturbed after the hat-trick of losses and even heard that he was seen crying.
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"I saw the press conference and I noticed this the other day as well that he looked disturbed. I heard that Babar cried after the defeat against Afghanistan as well. It is not just Babar's fault in the team's defeat, it involves the entire team and management. We are with Babar in this difficult time and the whole country is with him," said Yousuf on Samaa TV as he detailed out Pakistan's dressing-room scene.
- 'We are waiting for miracles' -
Pakistan legend Shahid Afridi, who was part of the same panel, unleashed his fury on Babar's captaincy in the World Cup as he explained how setting small examples as a captain himself can lift the spirit of the team and impact the overall performance.
"When you are not in the game [not focused], then these things [fielding issues] will happen. When you are trying to hide somewhere, when you are not thinking positively, I think that at times we are waiting for miracles, miracles don't just happen. They happen with brave men who know how to fight," Afridi said.
The 46-year-old then drew from his own experience as a skipper and cited examples of Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq.
"It has happened in the past, when I was the captain or Mohammad Yousuf was, when we used to run in the ground and support players, then the entire team used to charge up. When Inzamam would dive during the field, then, believe me, we players used to feel ashamed that why are we not diving when the captain is. At the end of the day, everything comes right back to the captain," he added.
Pakistan can still turn things around for themselves in this World Cup with four league games still remaining. If they win all four, they can hope for a semifinal qualification.
