Legendary Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram criticised skipper Babar Azam after the team slumped to narrow defeat against South Africa in Cricket World Cup 2023. South Africa lost wickets in a heap after a solid start to the run chase but Pakistan were not able to break the final wicket partnership between Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj. With the pacers completing their entire quota of overs, Babar gave the ball to Mohammad Nawaz but he ended up conceding a crucial boundary that clinched the game for South Africa. While Babar was seen shouting at Nawaz after the match, Akram said that although people will blame the bowler, the responsibility will actually fall on the skipper Babar.
"There were a couple of mistakes at the end. When a team loses then criticism is natural. The last over was given to Nawaz. I know the whole country will attack Nawaz but at that time Usama Mir had two overs left. Who was bowling better at that moment? Usama Mir. Who had more chances of baffling the tail-enders with googlies? Usama. His first three-four overs weren't good but he got two wickets for you. So Usama should have bowled that over, then Nawaz. Otherwise, the captaincy was fine. he bowled the main bowlers, got wickets. But I didn't understand why he gave the ball to Nawaz in that over. His confidence was not there. The angle he creates with his release point will always take the ball down the leg side. So that was a massive mistake from our captain," he said on A Sports.
However, Akram also pointed out the positives that Pakistan can take from the match and he was all praise for Haris Rauf and Mohammad Wasim for their bowling performances.
"They made a game out of it. Haris bowled his heart out. It was good to see Wasim making an impact in this game. He's got the talent, we all know but he didn't get consistent chances. Today he was very good. His pace was up, bowled consistently over 140. He got some swing and troubled the South African batters," he concluded.