Following Pakistan’s loss to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2023 Super Four in Colombo, Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian cricketer, did not hold back in expressing his views on Babar Azam’s captaincy.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir openly criticized Babar’s captaincy, particularly in the crucial closing stages of the match.

“For me, it was extremely ordinary captaincy as well. There was a four hit in Zaman Khan’s over over mid-off, and there was another four hit in Shaheen Shah Afridi’s over over mid-off, and both those deliveries were slower ones,” Gambhir remarked.

 Gambhir emphasized that Babar should have adjusted the field placements when slower deliveries were being bowled.

“If you want to bowl slower ones, keep the mid-off fielder at long-off and bring the third man up. This is extremely simple captaincy. Imagine if you had 13 runs left in the last over, it would have been difficult for Sri Lanka,” he further elaborated.

Gambhir also raised questions about Babar’s captaincy strategy during the Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama’s century partnership.

“You were allowing the game to drift at one stage. You wanted to complete your sixth bowler’s quota. It doesn’t work out like that. When the partnership was developing between Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama, you should have brought on your main bowlers and tried to pick up wickets,” Gambhir pointed out.

Gambhir suggested that a more aggressive approach in the middle overs, focused on taking wickets, could have been Pakistan’s key to victory given the nature of the game. He concluded by highlighting the need for Babar to adapt his captaincy style, recognizing that ODI cricket demands different strategies and approaches compared to T20 cricket.

“Pakistan could have won this game only by taking wickets. If Sri Lanka had batted till the end, they could have won earlier than they actually did. I feel Babar Azam will have to be slightly better in his captaincy as ODI cricket is not like T20 cricket,” Gambhir concluded.