Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ramiz Raja, in a recent interview, revealed that Pakistan captain Babar Azam has told him about the pressure he feels owing to immense criticism he has been facing of late. However, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has lashed out at this remark, and at Babar for taking this pressure on him, and rather suggested him to believe in himself after all that he has achieved in world cricket.
“Babar Azam often tells me ‘dekhiye hamaara kitna criticism hota hai’. I say to him, ‘be happy that cricket isn’t like any other sport in Pakistan where people don't care about them'," Ramiz had told Samaa TV further adding that this has put pressure on him as a batter as well.
In an interview to the same channel, Afridi questioned the reason behind Babar taking so much pressure, which he felt was excessive given the plethora of runs he has already scored across formats and besides also dominating the ranking charts in all the ICC batting lists.
“Yaar kis cheez ka pressure? Itne peeche run pare huye hain. Kaunsa pressure? Mujhe toh samajh nehi aa raha hain. Haa time le raha hain, but mujhe nei lagta ki usse pressure ki zarurat hain. Uske itne performances hain. He is ranked what...no.1, 2 or 3, jaha par bhi hain woh top performer hain. Agar woh pressure le raha hain toh zayadti kar raha hain. Pressure nehi lena chaiyein usse. Jo unke strokes hain, shots hain woh nehi rukna chahiye,” Afridi said.
{{/usCountry}}“Yaar kis cheez ka pressure? Itne peeche run pare huye hain. Kaunsa pressure? Mujhe toh samajh nehi aa raha hain. Haa time le raha hain, but mujhe nei lagta ki usse pressure ki zarurat hain. Uske itne performances hain. He is ranked what...no.1, 2 or 3, jaha par bhi hain woh top performer hain. Agar woh pressure le raha hain toh zayadti kar raha hain. Pressure nehi lena chaiyein usse. Jo unke strokes hain, shots hain woh nehi rukna chahiye,” Afridi said.
{{/usCountry}}Amid the ongoing criticism over Pakistan openers being conservative in their batting approach in T20I cricket, the legendary all-rounder suggested Babar and Mohammad Rizwan should focus only on playing “proper cricketing shots” rather than go for sixes.
“Unka partner, Rizwan, bhi aacha hain. Par agar soch yeh hain ki samne wala run kar raha hain aur main thoda time le lu toh woh negative soch hain. Hume dono batsmen se chakke nehi chahiye. 36 balls hain. Agar proper cricketing shots bhi khele toh 50-55 runs th waise hi ban jayega.”