Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has opined that the pressure of leading the side had affected Babar Azam's batting in the ICC World Cup 2023.
The 29-year-old only managed to score 320 runs at an average of 40.00 which included four fifties. He was Pakistan's third-highest run-getter behind Mohammad Rizwan (395 runs) and Abdullah Shafique (336 runs).
Sultan of Swing, while talking on a local sports channel, remarked that Babar Azam has to forget about captaincy while he is batting.
"Yes, the captaincy pressure has had an effect on him and he looked stressed, during the Asia Cup as well as in the World Cup," Wasim said.
"Captaincy pressure will always be there but when he is in the middle as a batter, he must focus there and how to get runs," he added.
Meanwhile, Misbah-ul-Haq talked about who should be blamed for a bad World Cup campaign and stressed that it shouldn't be Babar only.
"We were expecting Babar to be among the top two or three run-getters in conditions of India," Misbah said.
"All of your resources, including fast bowlers were toothless. When your premier fast bowler is only taking three wickets with the new ball and spinners are not performing then it is not only Babar to be blamed," he added.
"Everybody has to take the blame - the team management, selection committee and Babar- since these resources were backed by them," he concluded.
It must be noted Pakistan failed to finish in the top four of the ongoing World Cup. The Men in Green lost five of their league games, the first time ever at a single World Cup edition, which included an array of four straight losses, to finish fifth in the points table.
- Babar Azam