"Extremely ordinary captaincy" - Gautam Gambhir criticizes Babar Azam's tactics in Pakistan's Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 loss to Sri Lanka

Gautam Gambhir has criticized Babar Azam's captaincy in Pakistan's Asia Cup 2023 Super Four loss to Sri Lanka.

The Men in Green posted 252/7 in 42 overs after opting to bat first at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday, September 14. Dasun Shanaka and Co. won the game by two wickets via the DLS method off the last delivery to seal their berth in the final against India.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked about his thoughts on the final few overs of the game, to which he responded:

"For me, extremely ordinary captaincy as well. There was a four hit in Zaman Khan's over over mid-off and there was another four hit in Shaheen Shah Afridi's over over mid-off, and both those deliveries were slower ones."

The former Indian opener believes Babar erred in his field placements. He explained:

"If you want to bowl slower ones, keep the mid-off fielder at long-off and bring the third man up. This is extremely simple captaincy. Imagine if you had 13 runs left in the last over, it would have been difficult for Sri Lanka."

Gambhir highlighted that the Pakistan skipper needs to learn that he doesn't need to look for wickets in the final few overs. He added that he should have looked to maintain pressure by keeping a T20-type field and that the result might have been different had those two boundaries not been conceded.

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"You were allowing the game to drift at one stage" - Gautam Gambhir on Babar Azam's captaincy in the middle overs

Babar Azam primarily used his spinners in the middle overs. [P/C: AP]

Gautam Gambhir also questioned Babar Azam's captaincy during Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama's century partnership. He elaborated:

"You were allowing the game to drift at one stage. You wanted to complete your sixth bowler's quota. It doesn't work out like that. When the partnership was developing between Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama, you should have brought on your main bowlers and tried to pick up wickets."

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the Pakistan captain should have taken a more attacking approach in the middle overs. He said:

"Pakistan could have won this game only by taking wickets. If Sri Lanka had batted till the end, they could have won earlier than they actually did. I feel Babar Azam will have to be slightly better in his captaincy as ODI cricket is not like T20 cricket."

Piyush Chawla concurred with Gambhir's views, highlighting the wicket-taking options should have been brought on when a partnership was developing. He also questioned the overuse of Shadab Khan, pointing out that the Pakistan leg-spinner hasn't been in good rhythm and leaked runs during the middle overs.