Babar Azam not a match-winner like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, says Shahid Afridi: 'Wo feeling nahi aati hume'

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Talking about Babar Azam, former cricketer Shahid Afridi has said that the Pakistan captain does not give the feeling of a match-winner like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Afridi, who had earlier criticised Babar Azam for his captaincy in the World Cup 2023, said the batter should win matches for Pakistan.

The statement from Shahid Afridi comes as none of the Babar Azam fifties have helped Pakistan win a World Cup 2023. He scored 50, 74 and 50 against India, Afghanistan and South Africa, respectively. Pakistan lost each of these messages.

Babar Azam's scores in which Pakistan registered a win are - 9, 10 and 5 - his lowest three scores in the ongoing ICC marquee event. Making it clear that he is a Babar Azam fan, Shahid Afridi said that it was important to see the right-hander's run in a winning cause.

"Babar Azam ka run run karna alag cheez hai lekin Babar Azam ke score se match jeetna alag hai. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul wagera kya karte hai? Woh apne run bhi karte hai, balls bhi khelte hai aur apne team ko jita ke bhi ate hai. (Babar scoring runs and Babar scoring runs in a winning cause are two different things. Look at what Virat Kohli and KL Rahul do. They score their runs, consume deliveries and make sure they win the match for the team).

"I'm Babar's fan, make no mistake. We say Babar is a big player. Reaching that level is one thing and maintaining your performance once you reach that level is much more difficult. When Babar Azam walks in to bat, we should get a feeling that we will win it for us. But that feeling doesn't come. We know that he will score 50-60 but we are not confident that he will win us the match," Afridi said on SAMAA TV.

Babar Azam has been under immense pressure after Pakistan's four consecutive defeat in the World Cup 2023. However, their seven-wicket win over Bangladesh and New Zealand losing each of their three matches have given Pakistan's campaign a new ray of hope.

Pakistan have their destiny in their own hands now. They need to comprehensively beat New Zealand and England in their last two matches to make sure they qualify for the World Cup 2023 semi-finals.