'Requested Babar nicely to bat at No.3 but he said no': Wasim, Waqar blast Pakistan captain after WC loss to Zimbabwe

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis have slammed Babar Azam after Pakistan were stunned by minnows Zimbabwe in their second match of the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday.

Pakistan's fast-bowling icons Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis have slammed Babar Azam after the Green Army suffered their second-straight defeat in the 2022 edition of the ICC World T20. After suffering a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India, Babar-led Pakistan were stunned by minnows Zimbabwe in their second match of the Super 12 stage on Thursday.

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis have slammed Babar Azam after Pakistan were stunned by minnows Zimbabwe (AP/PCB)

Two of the finest bowlers in the history of Pakistani cricket, Wasim and Waqar launched a scathing attack on Pakistan skipper Babar after Zimbabwe's thrilling 1-run win over the former world champions at the Perth Stadium. The former Pakistani skippers were quick to question the captaincy credentials of Babar, who has struggled for form at the T20 World Cup in Australia.

“The easiest place to bat in T20s is opening. You have not let anyone else open in the last two years. I have discussed this with Misbah before, that why don’t you try something new? You have tried it out with bowling, but with batting, we have tried all the experiments with the middle order. But the openers have remained the same and they have batted 14-15 overs together,” Younis shared his views on the Pakistani sports show - The Pavillion.

Younis' former teammate Akram echoed the same sentiments and the former Pakistani pacer even lashed out at Babar for not making sacrifices for his team. “All of these things begin at the top. And at the top is your captain. If your captain plays for himself and is insecure. If your captain scores runs and lets other batters play at his position, you get to know that your captain is ready to sacrifice himself for you, this Babar has to learn,” Akram said.

Akram, who was an integral part of Pakistan's World Cup-winning side in 1992, also recalled working with Babar during his coaching stint at Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Akram revealed that he advised Babar to bat at No.3 position, but his request was eventually turned down by the all-format captain of the Pakistan national team.

“I have been through this by the way with Babar, at Karachi Kings, yes. In the team we had a couple of bad phases and I requested him once or twice nicely, that please come down at number 3, we’ll try something different. Let (Martin) Guptill bat at the top, seeing he is an opener. And he (Babar) said I would not go down, you ask Sharjeel to bat at 3, and he (Sharjeel) is a natural opener too. And these little things that the captain does, the team senses too,” Wasim added.