“Brainless captaincy” – Fans troll Babar Azam after Afghanistan beat Pakistan by eight wickets in 2023 World Cup

In one of the shocks of the tournament, Hashmatullah Shahidi’s Afghanistan beat Babar Azam-led Pakistan by eight wickets in their 2023 World Cup match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday, October 23. Afghanistan successfully chased 283 with an over to spare.

Afghanistan batters stood tall in the chase as Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran added 130 runs for the opening partnership. Gurbaz slammed 65 runs off 53 balls, including one six and nine boundaries. Zadran hit 87 off 113 deliveries, including 10 boundaries. He also shared a 60-run partnership with Rahmat Shah for the second wicket.

Shah smashed an unbeaten 77 off 84, including two sixes and five boundaries. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi also chipped in with 48* off 45, comprising four boundaries. The duo shared a 96-run unbeaten partnership for the third wicket.

Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali managed to pick up one wicket apiece for Pakistan.

After opting to bat, Pakistan posted 282/7 in their allotted 50 overs. Babar Azam top scored with 74 off 92 balls, including one six and four boundaries.

Abdullah Shafique also chipped in with 58 off 75, including two sixes and five boundaries. Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed provided a late flourish. Iftikhar smashed 40 off 27, including four sixes and two boundaries. Shadab also added 40 off 38, including one maximum and a boundary.

Noor Ahmad emerged as the pick of the bowlers on his World Cup debut, returning with figures of 3/49, and Naveen-ul-Haq picked up two wickets. Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai took one wicket apiece.

It was Afghanistan's second win in the World Cup after beating the defending champions England by 69 runs.

Fans on X (formerly known as Twitter) pointed fingers at Babar Azam for his leadership after Pakistan’s third consecutive loss (India, Australia, and Afghanistan) in the tournament. One user wrote:

“Sack Babar Azam as captain! Brainless captaincy”

Here are some more reactions:

“This hurts us” – Babar Azam after shocking loss against Afghanistan

Babar Azam was disappointed with the team's performance after losing to Afghanistan in the World Cup match. He believes the bowling and fielding unit were the prime reason behind the loss. At the post-match show, he said:

"This hurts us. We had a good total. In the bowling, we weren't up to the mark as we are not taking wickets in the middle overs. If you are not good in even one department, then you'll lose the game."

"We didn't stop boundaries and gave away runs that cost us [the game]. Bowling - we started well, in the middle overs, we needed wickets, but we couldn't take any."

Babar added:

“All credit to Afghanistan the way they played in all three departments. That's why they won. We are not playing good cricket in bowling and fielding. We'll try our best in the next match. We didn't hit the lengths in the middle overs, especially our spinners. We couldn't put pressure on the batters.”

“Doesn’t think out of the box” – Shoaib Malik on Babar Azam’s captaincy

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik recently suggested Babar should quit his captaincy. The 41-year-old pointed out that Babar should play purely as a batter since he doesn’t bring the X-factor to his captaincy. He told A-Sports:

"I gave an opinion in the past as well that Babar Azam should leave captaincy. This is my personal opinion. Babar doesn't think out of the box as a captain. He is doing captaincy, but the improvement is not coming. He can do wonders for Pakistan as a player.”

As skipper, Azam has led Pakistan to 24 wins in 39 ODIs.

Captaincy record in ODIs for Pakistan:

Imran Khan – 75 wins in 139 matches

Wasim Akram – 66 wins in 109 matches

Inzamam-ul-Haq – 51 wins in 87 matches

Misbah-ul-Haq – 45 wins in 87 matches

Waqar Younis – 37 wins in 62 matches

Sarfaraz Ahmed – 28 wins in 50 matches

Javed Miandad – 26 wins in 62 matches

Shoaib Malik – 25 wins in 41 matches

In the 2023 World Cup, Pakistan have managed just two wins (Netherlands and Sri Lanka) in their first five games. The Men in Green will next play against South Africa at the same venue on Friday, October 27. The Proteas are coming off the back of a 229-run win over England.

Babar Azam and Co. will probably need to win the remaining four league-stage games to stay in the hunt for the semifinals.

Pakistan’s remaining schedule in the 2023 World Cup

October 27: vs South Africa at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai at 2 PM IST

October 31: vs Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in Kolkata at 2 PM IST

November 4: vs New Zealand at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru at 10.30 AM IST

November 11: vs England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata at 2 PM IST