Still don't see Babar Azam as a T20 captain, not among top 15 batters in the format: Michael Vaughan

Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat to minnows USA in their opening game of the T20 World Cup 2024 and never really recovered from there. The Men in Green were beaten in their following game by arch-rivals India before registering their first win of the campaign against Canada. They needed Ireland to do them a favour by beating the USA. However, the encounter was washed out without a ball being bowled in Lauderhill. This eliminated the 2009 champions from the ninth edition of the marquee event.

During the tournament, Babar Azam received severe criticism for his leadership qualities. His performances with the bat were also quite abysmal by his lofty standards. In three games, he could only accumulate 90 runs at an average of 30 and a strike rate of 104.65. After Pakistan's early exit, the criticism of Babar's captaincy and performance with the bat has intensified.

Michael Vaughan lashed out at the right-handed batter, opining that he is not a T20 captain and can only perform the role in the longer formats, where he is more adept with the willow.

“I still don’t see him as a T20 captain. I see him as a Test and 50-over captain, in those formats in which he excels as a player. In T20 cricket, his game is very good, a pure player, but he is not up there with the top 15 batters in the world in T20 cricket. I think there are better players than him up the order,” Vaughan was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

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I didn't expect Pakistan to come close to India: Michael Vaughan

Vaughan said that Pakistan should not put the blame on the weather. The former England captain felt that the Asian giants should have beaten India after coming so close. Pakistan lost the humdinger of a contest by just six runs.

“They can’t blame the weather. They should’ve beaten the United States and India. If they had won those two games, they would have advanced to the Super Eights," Vaughan said.

"This is what Pakistan generally does at World Cups, which arrive and beat good teams. I didn’t expect them to come close to India. They should have won that match," he added.

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The cricketer-turned-expert also pointed out how Pakistan lost in the battle of nerves against the USA in their opening game.

“In their game against the United States, they were poor. They were really poor down the back end defending. The four off the last ball, Super Over, was carnage. The ball was going over there, running two and three, and it was typical of Pakistan. They just panicked, and great credit to the United States. They held the nerve, played some good shots, and got over the line.”