"Don't know why he was trying to stretch the match" - Moin Khan slams Babar Azam's captaincy during Asia Cup 2022 final

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan has questioned captain Babar Azam's tactics during the Asia Cup 2022 final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Dubai on Sunday (September 11). The Lankan Lions were in serious trouble at 58/5 and it looked like they would get bowled out easily.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa, however, played an incredible knock of 71*(45) to power Sri Lanka to 170/6 in their 20 overs. Pakistan crumbled under pressure during the chase and got bowled out for just 147.

Speaking to Boss News on Tuesday, Moin blamed the Pakistan bowling unit for letting Sri Lanka get to that big a total from a precarious situation. Baffled by some of the decisions Babar made right from bowling changes to field placements, he said:

"Don't know why he was trying to stretch the match. He (Babar) must have started thinking about the death overs. When you start getting negative, you can't plan. You play attacking cricket when you are positive. So I think we played into Sri Lanka's hands by not setting (an) attacking field and bowling our strike bowlers when we had the upper hand."

He also congratulated Sri Lanka for their valiant effort:

"The way Sri Lanka came back after losing five wickets and how Rajapaksa played like a senior pro, I think it was a commendable performance and I want to congratulate them. Pakistan bowled badly and the bowling changes were equally bad."

Babar Azam should have bowled his strike bowlers when wickets were falling: Moin Khan

Moin believes it should have been 'common sense' for Babar to bring back his strike bowlers when part-timer Iftikhar Ahmed picked up a wicket. However, the Pakistan captain kept the bowlers for the death and that helped Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga revive the Sri Lankan innings.

On this, Moin stated:

"I think when they (Pakistan) got a wicket through a part-time bowler then they should have backed him and also kept a slip. As Rashid (Latif) said, Babar should have bowled with his strike bowler. This what common sense is when you are captaining a side."

Do Pakistan need to worry about Babar Azam's position as a captain? Let us know in the comments.