Pakistan and Karachi Kings’ captain Babar Azam is going through a bit of a rough patch in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL). While Babar’s recent personal batting form has taken a dip, his PSL franchise is on the verge of breaking a particularly ignominious T20 record.
Karachi yet to register a win in PSL 7
The ongoing PSL tournament so far has seen Karachi lose every one of the group stage 8 matches it has been involved in. Barring Babar, no other batsman in the unit has looked in particularly good rhythm. Some of their marquee stars like Mohammed Amir and Mohammed Ilyas have been ruled out of the tournament with injuries.
But collectively, it’s Karachi’s promising bowling unit that has been a big letdown for them this season. The absence of Amir and Ilyas was always going to be a major impediment; but to actually see just how much out of touch the Kings’ bowling attack has looked in the tournament is humiliating on a different level. The team has been lacking a de-facto wicket-taking option, which, in-turn, has caused them to concede a lot of runs on the field.
The epitome of Karachi’s horrendous bowling performance this season was on full display during their latest 7-wicket defeat against the Multan Sultans. For once, the men in blue-and-red were actually looking the favorites to win the game, needing to defeat an unlikely 29 runs of the final two overs.
But a series of bowling miscalculations from Chris Jordan- their go-to death bowler this year- resulted in a 20-run penultimate over. Umaid Asif might have tried his best to defend the remaining nine-runs, but with such a momentum changing over, the damage was already done.
Wasim Akram fuming at Babar; issues clarifying tweet after fans’ outrage
Kings’ president Wasim Akram seemed absolutely appalled by the quality of death bowling that was on display. On a number of occasions during the final two overs, the legendary Pakistani pacer was heard shouting and yelling orders at Babar while the latter was fielding on the boundary ropes. He looked a bit too animated, and from the looks of it, many Pakistan fans weren’t overly pleased with how their captain was being reprimanded during the live match. Here’s a video featuring Wasim at his angry best at Babar:
what's happening here 🥲
Wasim Akram You can't do this with Babar Azam #BabarAzam #KarachiKings #Rizwan#Khushdil Shah pic.twitter.com/qGuJoJl5fB— Samra Khan 🇵🇰 (@cric_girl007) February 16, 2022
The social-media outrage eventually came to a point where Wasim had to address all the hateful and angry comments directed at him for the episode with Babar. He took to Twitter to clarify that he was only ‘asking’ Babar why his bowlers weren’t bowling yorkers or slower balls outside the off-stump. He then went on to call Babar wonderful and praised him for trying his best. Here’s what he wrote:
Hello ! Surprised to see reactions on my talking to Babar at the boundary last night. What I was saying was ‘why our bowlers are not bowling yorkers or slower ones offside off’.nothing else . Babar is a wonderful boy and has tried his best. And what he wants for dinner 🥘 1/2
— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) February 17, 2022
