'Virat Kohli bhi time leta hai, Rohit Sharma ne bhi...': Former Pakistan cricketer defends Babar Azam after T20 World Cup fiasco

NEW DELHI: Pakistan had a disastrous T20 World Cup campaign as they faced an early elimination after two back-to-back group-stage defeats at the hands of the USA and India, respectively. Despite scoring 122 runs in four games, Azam has had to face severe criticism due to his moderate strike rate of just 101.66.
Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, former Pakistani cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed drew a comparison between Indian cricket stalwart Virat Kohli and Azam while defending the latter's batting approach.

He said, "That (taking time) is his strength. Virat Kohli bhi time leta hai, woh konsa time nahi leta (Virat Kohli also takes time, he is also the same). If you put aside the last two or three matches, Rohit Sharma was scoring 20-25 runs. But I have seen a change of intent in Babar's game. He has become more aggressive.

"If a person can improve so much, I think that's enough. Other players also have a duty to score runs; they have a role to play too. If one person gives you a score, but the rest of our players don't go on to score in the remaining 7-8 overs, then there's a problem. This has been happening for 3-4 years. They (other players) only score when it doesn't make a significant impact," the Pakistani veteran spinner added, emphasizing that improvement in Azam’s game should be widely acknowledged.

Following recent setbacks, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has prioritized strategic planning for upcoming tournaments and series. The PCB aims to leverage the expertise of Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten, white-ball head coach, to formulate effective strategies for the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled for February-March next year.
In preparation for this major tournament, Pakistan will play a series of challenging fixtures. A five-Test home series against Bangladesh and England will be followed by a white-ball tour of Australia. Subsequently, the team will travel to South Africa for a comprehensive series encompassing both Test and white-ball formats.