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'Look at Stokes and then look at Babar. At least have some maturity now': Pakistan star's explosive rant after 0-3 sweep
The Pakistan star tore into Babar Azam after the side faced a 0-3 clean sweep defeat in the Test series against England on Tuesday.
Pakistan faced a crushing defeat at the hands of England in the third and final Test of the series in Karachi, enduring a 0-3 clean sweep. The Ben Stokes-led English team, that made its first tour to the country since 2005, produced an aggressive brand of cricket – more commonly known as the ‘Bazball’ – and drubbed Pakistan at their own soil, leaving the host side's captain Babar Azam with facing the wrath of fans and former cricketers.
Joining the bandwagon is Pakistan's veteran wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal, who questioned Babar's leadership abilities after the loss. Earlier this year, Pakistan had conceded a 0-1 Test series loss to Australia at home as well. Ahead of the T20 World Cup, England had defeated Pakistan in a seven-match T20I series and then proceeded to beat Babar's men in the final of the marquee tournament last month.
Talking about Pakistan's performance and Babar's captaincy, Kamran, on his official YouTube channel, said, "Any country that wins a series in Pakistan, it's a big achievement for them. Very big achievement for England. They came after so long, it was a historical series and they made Pakistan a history. They told us, 'we have exposed your cricket, your mentality, your system. Now, you take the decision on how to improve your cricket'. They played their own cricket.
“We know where we made mistakes. Those who made debut, did they deserve it? Did we play the XI according to pitch? The captaincy wasn't perfect. You look at Ben Stokes' captaincy and Babar's captaincy... he has been Pakistan's skipper for so long, at least have some maturity now, take better decisions. At least make your presence feel in the ground. There was nothing positive about him.”
Following the second Test, Babar Azam had said in a press conference that the side had dominated both games but couldn't finish when it mattered; however, Akmal insisted that at no point did any commentator or anyone in the press conference pointed out about Pakistan's ‘domination’ throughout the series.
“From the first Test till the last day of the series, every time there was a press conference, commentators and media, everyone was talking about how England dominated Pakistan. No one talked about us, no one praised us because we played with a negative approach,” said the wicketkeeper.
