In PSL Wasim Akram requested Babar Azam to bat at No.3, he refused

Akram recounted his experiences at Karachi King in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he requested Babar Azam to bat at No 3 but he refused.

“I have been through this by the way with Babar, at Karachi Kings. In the team we had a couple of bad phases and I requested him once or twice nicely, that please come down at number 3, we’ll try something different,” Wasim Akram said on A Sports show – The Pavillion.

“Let (Martin) Guptill bat at the top, seeing he is an opener. And he (Babar) said I would not go down, you ask Sharjeel to bat at 3, and he (Sharjeel) is a natural opener too. And these little things that the captain does, the team senses too,” he added.

Wasim accused Babar Azam for being selfish and insecure.

“All of these things begin at the top. And at the top is your captain. If your captain plays for himself and is insecure. If your captain scores runs and lets other batters play at his position, you get to know that your captain is ready to sacrifice himself for you, this Babar has to learn,” Wasim said.

Waqar Younis echoed Wasim Akram’s opinion. He said: “The difference between being a captain and the leader, well that’s the difference.”

Pakistan, who were beaten by arch-rivals India in their opening match, now find their tournament hopes in tatters after failing to reach a modest target of 131 against Zimbabwe at Perth Stadium.

Zimbabwe’s win has now made Pakistan’s equation in Group 2 to qualify for the semi-final an interesting one.

Firstly, Pakistan needs to win all their remaining three matches.

Secondly, the men in green must win all three matches by a big margin to maintain a healthy net run rate.

Thirdly, they must hope that other results go their way- including South Africa losing to India and Pakistan.

Zimbabwe losing their remaining two matches out of three (versus India, Netherlands, and Bangladesh)

Further, they must hope that Bangladesh lose another game.

Pakistan will face Netherlands on Sunday at Perth.