“I would have bowled out Haris Rauf”: Rashid Latif questions Babar Azam’s captaincy after Pakistan’s loss in Asia Cup 2022 final

Rashid Latif has questioned the captaincy tactics of Babar Azam after Pakistan’s loss against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2022 final.

Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup 2022 by beating Pakistan by 23 runs in the final of the tournament. At one stage, Pakistan were dominating the match when Sri Lanka were 58-5 at one stage, but then the batting duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Bhanuka Rajapaksa took the game away from Pakistan.

Chasing the target of 171 runs, Pakistan never looked comfortable in the chase. Babar Azam again failed to make his mark, whereas the slow batting of Mohammad Rizwan did not help the cause as well. The rest of the batters failed as well, and Pakistan were bundled out for 147 runs.

Rashid Latif questions Babar Azam’s captaincy

Former Pakistan wicket-keeper Rashid Latif has questioned the tactics of Babar Azam after Pakistan’s loss in the Asia Cup 2022 final against Sri Lanka. Latif said that Azam went in with a defensive approach when the attack was required as Sri Lanka were already on the back foot.

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Sri Laka were 58 for 5 at one stage, and Rashid said that he would have bowled out Haris Rauf in search of more wickets. Babar, on the other hand, opted to go in with a part-time spinner which did not work out for the side. He also questioned Babar’s decision of giving just a single over to Mohammad Nawaz.

“The biggest mistake was in bowling. If I were the captain, I would have bowled out Haris Rauf after five wickets fell and gone for wickets. Instead, Babar bowled part-time spinner. That surprised me. The main spinner was Mohammad Nawaz and you gave him just one over then. I wouldn’t even have bought him but attacked with fast bowlers. No wickets fell from the 8th to 15 and run-rate also kept climbing,” Rashid Latif said on PTV.

Apart from his captaincy, Babar failed on the batting front as well where he managed to score 68 runs in the whole tournament.