'Extremely ordinary captaincy' - Gautam Gambhir lambasts Babar Azam's leadership after loss against Sri Lanka

Gautam Gambhir, former India opener, criticized Pakistan skipper Babar Azam's captaincy in the Asia Cup 2023 after Men in Green suffered back-to-back losses in the tournament.

Pakistan were eliminated from the 2023 Asia Cup following a defeat against Sri Lanka in the rain-marred Super Four stage clash on September 14. The Dasun Shanaka-led side won the game by two wickets using the DLS method and secured their berth in the final against India.

"For me, 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 told Star Sports.

The former Indian cricketer believes that the Pakistan skipper erred in his field placements in the must-win game. He also said that the 28-year-old needs to know that he isn't required to look for wickets in the last few overs. 

"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," the 41-year-old added.

You were allowing the game to drift at one stage: Gambhir

Gambhir went on to question Babar Azam's captaincy during Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama's 100-run stand. He added that Babar should have been more appropriate in his role as ODI cricket is different from T20 cricket.

"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.

"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," he concluded.