Pakistan's loss to South Africa in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, October 27, has sparked a significant discussion about Babar Azam's leadership in the ongoing tournament.
During a program, Chopra didn't hold back his criticism of the captaincy of Babar Azam in an intense World Cup 2023 contest against South Africa.
The particular match was a thrilling nail-biter that ended with South Africa narrowly defeating Pakistan by a slim one-wicket margin. Given the close finish, it was inevitable that questions would arise, and Aakash Chopra took the opportunity to analyse Babar Azam's decisions as the captain during the game.
Chopra's critique centred on the latter stages of the match when South Africa needed only a few runs with plenty of balls in hand. Posing a thought-provoking question, the former India opener inquired: "What kind of captaincy is Babar doing? Towards the end, there were plenty of balls left and very few runs that South Africa needed to get."
He proceeded to highlight that notwithstanding the situation in the game, wherein the South African team needed very few runs, Babar maintained a significant number of fielders inside the 30-yard circle, enabling the opposition to easily secure singles.
"Babar kept 4-5 fielders within the circle and allowed his opponents to take singles. There's no way that if South Africa were going to bat for 50 overs, they wouldn't have got to the target," he added further.
In essence, Aakash Chopra queried why Babar Azam was not exerting pressure on the South African batters when they were on the cusp of victory. Rather than drawing fielders nearer in an effort to generate catching chances, Babar's fielding positions permitted the batsmen to conveniently exchange the strike.
Chopra contended that this was a debatable choice. Chopra's disapproval didn't end there. He vividly described the situation by stating, "Even if Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, and Waqar Younis were to suddenly turn up and be allowed to bowl, they would not have been able to defend it."
- Aakash Chopra