‘You are captain, you cannot bat…’ – Harbhajan Singh slams Babar Azam for slow knock in finals of 20-20 World Cup 2022

With Pakistan losing in the finals of the 20-20 World Cup 2022 against Jos Buttler’s England on November 13, Sunday, many cricketers from the country started slamming Babar Azam and his approach in the summit clash. Being forced to bat first, Babar managed to score only 32 runs in the 28 balls that he faced, eventually forcing Pakistan to put on a meagre total of 137 runs on the board at the end of the first innings. 

Harbhajan Singh, the former Indian cricketer, said that the Pakistani skipper played an innings that cost the team and the country, the title. He further claimed that the batter should have played a slow inning and added that the talismanic batter was pretty ordinary on a crucial day. 

“Pakistan will be disappointed with their batting effort. They didn’t take their chances early on and Babar was pretty ordinary in my book. You are the captain of this ship and you cannot bat like that. 28 balls and you are just scoring 32 runs. You are putting your team in deep deep trouble. They couldn’t come over it,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying. 

It has been a long journey: Jos Buttler

England chased down the target in 19 overs and with 5 wickets to spare on the back of a well-anchored 49-ball 52 from Ben Stokes. Buttler, who was out of words to describe the moment, said that it was a long journey for the team and added that winning the 20-20 World Cup was a proud moment for all of his fellow countrymen. 

“To win the 20-20 World Cup now, immensely proud of everyone here. It has been a long journey and few changes but we are reaping the rewards of how we have played in the last few years. It’s been a fantastic tournament,” Buttler said in the post-match interview.

“We went to Pakistan before coming here, which was a valuable time for the group and this felt a long way after the Ireland match but the character we showed from thereon in must-win games is amazing,” he added.