Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has slammed Babar Azam for prioritising private milestones over crew success and expressed issues about Pakistan’s preparations forward of their marquee Champions Trophy conflict towards India in Dubai on Sunday. The previous Pakistan captain, who not too long ago misplaced his ODI No. 1 rating to Shubman Gill, was blamed for his sluggish knock of 64 off 90 balls within the Champions Trophy opener towards New Zealand. His lack of ability to speed up the run fee and dismissal within the essential thirty fourth over contributed to Pakistan’s 60-run defeat, placing their title defence in jeopardy. Kaneria identified Pakistan’s struggling batting lineup, accusing Azam of focusing extra on his particular person efficiency than the crew’s success.
“If we discuss Babar Azam, he’s enjoying for himself. When he’s below strain, he focuses on retaining his stats and ICC rating intact,” Kaneria instructed PTI Video.
“I’ve scored a fifty, I’ve executed it. However the place is the intent of successful the match on your facet?”, Kaneria questioned.
He credited Salman Agha (42 off 28 balls) and Khushdil Shah (69; 49b) for his or her impactful knocks, which helped Pakistan keep away from an excellent greater defeat.
“Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah performed nice knocks, if these two boys hadn’t scored shortly, then Pakistan would have misplaced by 100 runs, as an alternative of shedding by 60 runs.
“In case you play, play for the nation, the nation comes first. Present a little bit intent…However sadly, Babar could not do this”, he stated.
The 44-year-old additional expressed issues about Pakistan’s readiness for the essential conflict towards India.
“The state of affairs is crystal clear. I do not suppose there’s a lot hype this time as a result of Pakistan will not be enjoying good cricket. India are enjoying wonderful cricket,” Kaneria stated.
He pointed to Pakistan’s current struggles, together with a disappointing Tri-Nation Sequence marketing campaign and a 1-1 draw towards the West Indies in a house Take a look at collection.
In distinction, he hailed India’s sturdy resurgence following their Border-Gavaskar Trophy defeat in Australia, highlighting their dominant white-ball collection win over England.
“They’d a debacle in Australia, many gamers had been questioned. However the best way they’ve began the yr 2025, defeating England in at house.
“You’ll be able to see the type of Rohit (Sharma), (Virat) Kohli… Gill is within the type of his life, such a pleasant participant to look at… (Mohammed) Shami got here again from harm and obtained a fifer towards Bangladesh,” he stated.
“Alternatively, if we discuss Pakistan, they don’t seem to be in a position to win a collection at house. Shaheen (Shah Afridi) who used to bowl at 150kph will not be doing that now. We drew a collection with West Indies. There is no such thing as a technique or plan,” he added.
Kaneria additionally questioned the collection of Abrar Ahmed as Pakistan’s lone specialist spinner, doubting his potential to bother Indian batters.
“Abrar does not have the standard to bother India’s batsmen. He makes use of his fingers to offer the ball a tweak, he isn’t a leg-spinner, does not get the ball to show, will get hit for lots. Nowhere near the standard of a Sunil Narine or Ajantha Mendis. He cannot flip the sport round.” “Salman Ali Agha will play the position of an off-spinner, Khushdil Shah may also chip in along with his left arm orthodox if wanted,” stated the previous leg-spinner.
Kaneria additionally warned the Pakistan batters of the spin menace possessed by the India’s trio of Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
“The Pakistan crew says that they play spin properly, however Babar Azam, who is claimed to be among the finest gamers, little question he’s, will get caught on left-arm spinners.
“Jadeja and Axar are two confirmed world-class spinners. We’ve seen that even within the T20 World Cup, throughout the Pakistan-India sport, Axar was the one who did not leak a variety of runs,” he stated.
“This certainly will probably be a giant activity for the Pakistani batters. There are a variety of left-handers within the middle-order of Pakistan’s batting lineup like Saud Shakeel, Khushdil Shah.
“However I’ve been seeing that the Indian spinners have been bowling left-handed batsmen fairly properly. And it will not be straightforward for Pakistan’s batting to play these three spinners.
“Particularly Kuldeep as a result of he’s a chinaman bowler. Will probably be a troublesome time for Pakistan to outlive the center overs towards the standard spin bowling of India”, he exclaimed.
Kaneria acknowledged the strain on the Pakistan crew, significantly after shedding the primary match in entrance of their house crowd.
“There may be strain, this can be a match towards India, there’s strain. We’ve promised so many individuals that we’ll do that, we’ll do this. However we did not concentrate on cricket, we did not concentrate on the gamers, we did not concentrate on the participant’s mixture,” he rued.
“Pakistan are unpredictable. They play properly below strain. You by no means know what is going to occur on the given day,” Kaneria concluded.
