ICC T20 World Cup 2022: "If I was the selector, I would have kept Shoaib Malik in the middle-order the very first day"- Wasim Akram questions Malik's omission after losing to Zimbabwe

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has come down hard at Babar Azam as his team lost a nerve-wracking thriller against Zimbabwe. After losing their first encounter against arch-rivals India, Pakistan lost to African minnows Zimbabwe and is staring down a group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup.

Wasim Akram said it’s not a neighborhood team and Babar has to make more rational decisions and act intelligently. He was also flabbergasted at Shoaib Malik’s exclusion from the World Cup squad.

With fast and bouncy wickets in Australia, Wasim Akram felt Malik’s experience would have come in handy.

Akram was present on a talk show named the ‘Pavilion’ alongside Shoaib Malik, Waqar Younis, and Misbah-ul-Haq, where he expressed his views after the morale-shattering loss for Pakistan.

“Babar has to be more intelligent. This is not a gully cricket team that anybody comes into the team on the basis of preferences. I am just saying what I am hearing.

Wasim Akram further added:

If I was the selector, I would have kept Malik in the middle-order the very first day. It’s Australia, it’s not Sharjah, Dubai or Pakistan that there will be dead wickets,” Akram said on the YouTube show.

Over the last year or so, Pakistan have been heavily reliant on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to do the bulk of the scoring.

The Pakistan middle-order has crumbled under pressure. Despite a rare guard action against India courtesy of Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood, the situation has been far from ideal for the Men in Green.

The Pakistan middle order crumbled in front of a disciplined Zimbabwe bowling attack from a position of relative ease.

An equation of 43 from 39 balls with 7 wickets in hand is a cakewalk for the batting team, but Pakistan made a meal of it, eventually losing it on the final delivery of the match.

Wasim Akram on the talk show said:

“This is what I was talking about. Like Waqar said, everyone has to sit down. Everyone from Pakistan from last year, including us, knew that the middle order is slightly weak. Now this bloke is sitting here, Shoaib Malik. If I was the captain, what is my end goal as a skipper? It is to win the World Cup.”

He added:

“I will go to any extent in selecting the team who can win you the World Cup. If I want Shoaib Malik in the middle-order, I will make sure that I convey that to the chairman of selectors otherwise I will say I am not captaining the side if I don’t get my side”

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Wasim Akram lauds Zimbabwe bowlers for their bowling plans

Zimbabwe got off to a flying start as Shaheen Afridi conceded 14 runs from his first over. Naseem Shah added to the misery by conceding 10 runs in the next over as Zimbabwe raced off to 24/0 in the first 2. They kept searching for swing from a yorker's length and over-pitched repeatedly. The powerplay score proved to be the difference between the two teams in the end.

The Zimbabwe bowlers were far more disciplined right from the start. They kept challenging Babar and Rizwan with length deliveries which moved and zipped off the surface. They didn’t bowl too full which made stroke-making relatively difficult for Pakistan.

Mentioning the delivery that got Rizwan out, Wasim Akram said that the bowling coach should have stepped in and asked Shaheen Afridi to try and swing the ball from a length rather than pitching it up.

“Look what the Zimbabwe medium pacers did today. They kept bowling length balls and we kept bowling the Yorker-length. Shaun Tait or whoever is the bowling coach should have gone to Shaheen Shah Afridi and said that see the pitch is not conducive for bowling Yorker-length.”

Wasim Akram further added:

“Try to get your rhythm and bowl length deliveries and try to move the ball from that length. See the delivery that got Rizwan out. It got big on him from a length. That’s the pace and bounce which we talk about on Australian pitches”

Here is the full video:

With the defeat, Pakistan now have to win all their remaining three games and hope that other results go their way to make it through to the final four. They will meet the Netherlands on October 30th (Sunday), followed by South Africa (3rd November) and Bangladesh (6th November).