T20 World Cup 2022: Babar Azam and Pakistan were not able to hold on to their nerves as they failed to defend 159 in a thrilling Super 12 match against India at the MCG on Sunday. Pakistan lost the match in the final delivery after Virat Kohli hit a stunning 82 off 53 deliveries.

Babar Azam was not able to marshal Pakistan to a victory over India (AP Photo)

By India Today Web Desk: Former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has questioned why Babar Azam’s captaincy, saying Pakistan have been losing quite a few crunch matches in the recent past. Hafeez’s comments came after Pakistan were beaten by their arch-rivals India in their first Super 12 match of T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday in Melbourne.

Mohammad Hafeez said Babar Azam’s captaincy is like a “sacred cow” that can’t be questioned even after obvious tactical goof-ups against India in a tense thriller in front of 90,000 fans. Pakistan had posted a par total of 159 for 8 on the board but they were not able to defend it despite blowing away the Indian top-order.

India were reduced to 31 for 4 after Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf tore into the top-order, picking up the wickets of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav inside the powerplay. However, Virat Kohli (82 not out) and Hardik Pandya (40) steered India past the finish line in a stunning run chase.

India needed 48 runs in the last 3 overs but Babar Azam’s decision to hold back left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz did not work well. India decided to put pressure on the pacers before the final over and it worked for them with Virat Kohli attacking Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf. Nawaz was left to defend 16 runs in the final over but the left-arm pacer couldn’t manage it as India got past the finish line in the last delivery of the match.

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Hafeez questioned why Babar did not finish the quota of his spinners when India were struggling to keep the scoreboard moving in the middle-overs. Notably, Babar took Nawaz off the attack after the left-arm spinner conceded as many as 3 sixes in his 3rd over.

“Babar Azam’s captaincy is like a sacred cow that cannot be criticized. It’s the third consecutive big game that we are seeing flaws in Babar captaincy, but we keep hearing that by the time he gets to the age of 32 he will learn,” Hafeez said during an interview for Rahi Cricket.

“In Sunday’s match, from the 7th over till the 11th over, when India were struggling for even 4 runs an over, why did Babar not fulfill the spin quota overs in that timeframe,” he added.

Pakistan had also lost the Asia Cup final to Sri Lanka and last year’s T20 World Cup semi-final to Australia after having been in positions of strength at various points in the matches.

Pakistan will look to bounce back when they take on Zimbabwe in their second Super 12 match in Perth on Thursday, October 27.