Pakistan captain Babar Azam endured a disappointing performance as his team opened their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a loss to the United States of America. The star batter expressed his frustration with his team’s display during the post-match presentation at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas, Texas on Thursday, June 6.
Babar voiced his frustration with all aspects of his squad’s performance, and his post-match remarks revealed the current dire situation the team faced.
In a conversation with Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik emphasized that an effective leader must project confidence and optimism, rather than condemn his own players.
“As a leader, you must strike a diplomatic tone when speaking to the press and at public events. However, it’s crucial that you find ways to publicly support and back your players, even if you need to privately address issues with them behind closed doors,” said Karthik.
“As a newly appointed captain, it’s important to balance honesty with understanding the team’s dynamics. At a time when many players are feeling vulnerable, the captain should say, ‘Yes, it was a bad day, but we could have done some things better.’ Directly stating that the team played badly is not only obvious, but could disappoint players if they read those comments. The captain needs to choose words carefully to provide constructive feedback without damaging morale,” he continued.
In addition, Dinesh Karthik highlighted Babar Azam’s on-field body language and expressed the opinion that losing his cool will not boost the confidence of the rest of the team.
“His on-field conduct, aggressively confronting bowlers when boundaries are scored, does not demonstrate effective leadership. While showing disappointment is understandable, there are better ways to do so without unsettling already-nervous players,” he stated.
Despite Pakistan’s formidable seam attack, they managed to take only three wickets as the match see-sawed to a tie. In the final over, Pakistan appeared poised for victory, but Haris Rauf’s gave away 2 boundaries in the last three balls allowed the opposition to level the scores, prompting a furious response from the captain.