‘You did not take brave decisions’: Mohammad Amir hits out at skipper Babar Azam

Coming down heavily on Babar Azam’s captaincy in T20 World Cup including Pakan’s five-wicket loss against England in the final at Melbourne, former Pakani pacer Mohammad Amir has termed Azam as not a brave captain. With England once placed at 45 for 3 in 5.4 overs during the chase of Pakan’s total of 137 runs in the final, Amir criticized Azam for not giving the ball to the left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz at that time and not being brave.
“Unka batsman Harry brook Shadab se phasa hua tha. Vahan Mohammad Nawaz ka armer bhi bahut achha hai. Udhar apko wicket mil sakti thi. Fir wo kehte hain ki main tanqeed karta hoon. Captain brave hota hai, situation ko read karta hai. Aapne brave decisions nahi loye. Aur jab aap haarte ho toh yeh cheezen nazar aati hain.  (Their batsman Harry Brook was struggling against Shadab. Mohammad Nawaz too has good arm-ball. We could have taken a wicket there. They will say I criticize a lot. But captain should be brave and read the situation. You did not take brave decisions. When you lose, such things are visible,” Amir said while speaking with 24 News HD.
In the final, Pakan captain Babar Azam did not bowl Nawaz even after Shaheen Afridi’s injury and Amir spoke about the lack of trust on Nawaz. “Our bowlers bowled the best in the whole tournament. No team could hit us freely. It goes to the credit of our bowlers. But I could not understand Mohammad Nawaz’s case. After the first match, there was one video made in dressing room about Nawaz not getting worried and him being our match winner. After that, it did not feel that he is playing as a batsman or as a bowler in the tournament. It shows you don’t trust your player and it’s only to talk such things. Nawaz bowls the first over in PSL. He could have done something in final,” said Amir.

While Pakan sneaked into the knock-out stages after Netherlands’ win over South Africa, Amir also blamed the Pakani batsmen for the team’s struggle at crucial moments in the tournament. The former pacer believed Pakani batsmen could not adjust to other wickets in Australia apart from Sydney. “I talk with cricketing sense. We reached final and that’s a big thing. We did not deserve to be in the final and everybody knows how we reached the final. If you see our batsmen’s performances, you will know. I said earlier that our batsmen should come out of Sydney. They will struggle outside Sydney and that’s what happened. I told earlier that if you will get the same Melbourne wicket as it has been throughout the tournament, we will struggle. This was bound to happen,” said Amir.