Babar Azam hit out at pundits questioning his captaincy, urging them to message him their opinions directly instead of airing them on television following Pakistan’s ordinary 2023 World Cup campaign.

Pakistan are all but eliminated from the tournament, having lost four of their eight games. A win against England is unlikely to be enough to take them into the top four. Since Pakistan had also failed to make the final of the Asia Cup in September, Babar’s captaincy has come under the scanner: experts have questioned his personnel-management skills and ability to take decisions under pressure.

There are also reports of a rift in the dressing room with senior members allegedly not pleased with Babar’s captaincy. It has led to a divide in to two groups, with one faction being led by Shaheen Afridi and the other faction being players who still support Babar.

Speaking ahead of the England game, Babar urged the critics of his leadership to personally convey their advice to him instead: “Everyone has their own point of view, their own way of thinking. Everyone is saying something different. He should be like this, or like that. If someone has to give me advice, everyone has my number. It is easy to give advice on TV. If you want to give me some advice, you can message me.”

Babar has not made a hundred in eight games at the 2023 World Cup. On being asked whether his captaincy has affected his batting, he said: “I have been captaining my team for the last three years and I have never felt this way.

“It’s just because I have not performed the way I should have in the World Cup, that’s why people are saying that I am under pressure. I am under no pressure. I have been doing this for the last 2.5 or 3 years. I was the one who was performing and I was the one who was the captain. I was applying the same thing.

“I don’t think I was under any pressure or felt any different because of this. I try to give my best in the field during the fielding. During batting, I think about how I should make runs and make the team win.”

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