In a first, Pakistan was eliminated from the T20 World Cup in the group stage after Ireland and the co-host, the United States of America (USA), called off a pivotal Group A match without a ball being bowled.
The Green Shirts’ T20 World Cup 2024 campaign got off to a catastrophic start when they were shocked out of the Super Over by the USA.
Then, on June 9, in front of a crowded Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, Pakistan lost to archrivals India by a humiliating six runs.
Pakistan was on the verge of being eliminated from the competition early due to the consecutive losses.
Then, after a valiant seven-wicket victory over Canada, the defending champions eventually turned things around.
After that, Pakistan overcame Ireland in yet another close contest to win and exit the T20 World Cup 2024. Having collected four points from four games, the 2009 winners took third place in the Group A standings. Babar Azam’s tenure as the T201 captain has come under scrutiny in the wake of Pakistan’s humiliating loss.
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“What will happen to Babar at this point? At number four, he will now descend. He needs to complete the games. He needs to win the games in order to maintain his spot in the T20I. I am revealing this to you now. If he can’t finish, he won’t be able to get a spot in the ODIs,” Akhtar said.
“Babar, the finisher, needs to emerge once more. At that point, the character emerges. He must go into that kind of role. Babar, I have to be honest with you: you have to continue being a superstar. Learn how to close out games,” he said.