Pakistan skipper lashes out at teammates after shocking eight-wicket defeat to Afghanistan; insists players need to be fit and put in extra effort on the field
Babar Azam during Pakistan’s match against Afghanistan on Monday. Pic/Getty Images
On the brink of elimination from the World Cup after their shock defeat to Afghanistan, Pakistan captain Babar Azam said his players showed lack of attitude while fielding and they need extra effort in that department of the game.
The eight-wicket loss on Monday was Pakistan’s third defeat on the trot after starting the tournament with back-to-back wins.
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The stunning defeat literally pushed Pakistan on the brink of elimination as they will need to win all their remaining four matches to be sure of a semi-final berth.
Sloppy work
Against Afghanistan, Babar’s men were sloppy in fielding, especially at the boundary and in conceding a couple of overthrows. He blamed it on the lack of attitude from his players.
“Whenever you do fielding, it is only with attitude. And I don’t see any attitude from the team. You need to put in extra effort and be fit,” Babar said at the post-match press conference.
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“You should focus on the ball, not on other thoughts, and when the ball comes, as a fielder, you have to be proactive. So, I think we are lagging a little bit as a fielding unit.”
Make-or-break tie against SA
Pakistan play South Africa here on Friday and that will be a make-or-break match for them. Babar said his team need a new approach in the remaining matches.
“We will have to go with a different plan, a different mindset, we will try to bring a positive vibe in the team,” said the captain.
“I hope we learn from this loss [against Afghanistan]. It will hurt us a lot. We will try to talk about positive things.
“But, we will also talk about the things we did not do well. How we will do it in the future. Because every match is with a different team.”
Babar admitted that his team has been sloppy in one department of the game or the other.
“Sometimes, we do well in bowling, [but] we don’t do well in batting. When we do well in batting, we don’t do it in fielding.”
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