‘Qudrat ka inteqaam’ goes viral after Pakistan’s T20 WC clash

‘Qudrat ka inteqam’ became one of the top trends on X after Babar Azam’s Pakistan suffered an early exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup.

The Green Army were eliminated from the tournament after the match between the United States and Ireland was abandoned due to heavy downpours in Florida.

After botching their run chase against India earlier in the event, Pakistan’s fate was no longer in their hands and Babar Azam and his men needed a few things to qualify for the Super Eight. Ireland’s victory over the United States was vital for Pakistan to earn a place in the Super Eight. However, that did not happen as the rain gods wiped out Ireland’s showdown with the hosts.

The abandonment of the clash between Ireland and the United States allowed the latter to move to five points, putting their total out of reach of the Pakistanis.

Even if Pakistan were to win their final group match, they would only have four points, which is insufficient for qualification to the Super Eight.

Although Pakistan’s exit from the T20 World Cup was confirmed on Friday, former players, including those from their country, feel that Babar Azam and Co have lost the plot after their back-to-back shocking defeats against the United States and India at the start of the high-profile biennial. competition.

While their batting put up a subdued performance against the USA in their first match, Pakistan’s batting line-up sagged under pressure and lost a close encounter against India after choking in the second half of their chase to finish at 113-7 in their allotted 20 overs. The Indians completed a hard-fought six-run victory over their arch-rivals with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah producing a superb display of tearful fast bowling with figures of 3 wickets for 14.

Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, a self-confessed fan of Babar Azam, also criticized his leadership during the T20 World Cup. He claimed that Babar Azam had not improved as a skipper in the last three and a half years and the Pakistan cricket team was suffering due to his inability to take proactive decisions on the field.

“Other cricket fans on social media should criticize Babar’s captaincy, but consistent performers like him are rare in Pakistan cricket. Babar’s individual performances were good. Yes, it’s true that he was unable to participate in the World Cup. I always wanted to see Babar emerge as a winner like we talk about Virat Kohli. He was not a winner from day one, but he developed,” Shahid Afridi said on his YouTube channel.

“Babar Azam is criticized. This happens because he is the captain. I am an admirer of Babar (but) he was given 3-3.5 years as captain and there were no eye-catching results or improvement. The first question asked of the selection committee is: when he showed no improvement (before), (why) was he reappointed as captain? As a player, we never criticized Babar but only his role as captain. A leader’s decision matters a lot: it can change the outcome of a match, a captain must be able to communicate with the players. So these are few things that Babar could not improve,” Shahid Afridi said.

On the other hand, former England captain Michael Vaughan criticized Babar Azam’s captaincy during the T20 World Cup. He pointed out that Pakistan should have won the match against India, but Babar Azam’s mobilization of his troops let the team down.

“I still don’t see him as a T20 captain. I see him as a Test captain and 50-plus. In these two formats in which he excels as a player. In T20 cricket, his game is very good, a pure player, but he is no match for the world’s top 15 batters in T20 cricket. I think there are better players than him in the order,” Michael Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

“But I don’t want them to change him (captain) again. You assume they must have some consistency. There’s no point in changing again. Even though he is not perfectly suited to the role of captain in T20 cricket, I think for this period it is worth him to remain consistent because the last thing Pakistan needs is a little more kamikaze, exchanges, changes and excessive reactions. I think most Pakistani fans will be realistic about how this team will perform. They actually don’t have a great team, at the moment, on paper they’re just not a very good team. It is up to the coaches, selectors and the Pakistani system to try to give those in power (captain and coaches) the choice of a group of players,” he added.