'Babar Azam made a mistake': Shoaib Akhtar points out Pakistan's big blunder against India

The Indian cricket team earned a four-wicket win against arch-rivals Pakistan to kick off their campaign at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. Pakistan scored 159 runs at the loss of eight wickets in the first innings and failed to defend the total as India chased down the target on the final ball. Meanwhile, speaking about Pakistan’s loss in his latest YouTube video, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar pointed out a mistake committed by captain Babar Azam.

Akhtar slammed Pakistan for their lack of calculation, while saying that they could have achieved 170 runs in the first innings if not for the experimentation. "Pakistan could have achieved 170-plus easily but they decided not to because in the midway they sent Shadab (Khan) then Haider (Ali). Had they sent (Mohammad) Nawaz, Pakistan could have crossed 170. There was lack of calculation," Akhtar explained in the YouTube video.

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Further mentioning what lacked in the Pakistan unit, Akhtar said the team committed the same mistake that they did during the Asia Cup 2022. "I think Pakistan is playing one bowler less. You faced a problem in Dubai (during the Asia Cup). It is not the job of Nawaz to bowl the last over. Please try to understand this. It's the captain's and management's job to play a proper bowler. If you don't want to play an extra bowler then complete Nawaz's overs by 14-15 overs so that it doesn't hurt later on. Babar Azam made a mistake, but again Pakistan shouldn't fall from here,” Akhtar said.

India come out on top of Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2022

Indian youngster Arshdeep Singh kicked off the proceedings for India in the match by dismissing Babar Azam on a golden duck on his very first delivery of the match. This followed the dismissal of Mohammad Rizwan in the 4th over by the same bowler. After Ikhtikar Ahmed and Shan Masood stitched a 76-run stand for the third wicket, Mohammed Shami dismissed Ahmed in the 12th over.  

The next three wickets were swept away by Hardik Pandya, before Arshdeep completed his three-wicket haul with Asif Ali’s wicket. Shan and Shaheen Afridi launched a late attack towards the end of the innings, but Bhuvneshwar sent him back on a individual score of 16 runs.