Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has lashed out at the Babar Azam-led team after their six-run loss against arch-rivals India at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Sunday. Akram wants the selectors to pick a new team and back the young players.

Akram slammed Pakistan batters for not chasing 120 runs as he feels the pitch wasn’t that difficult. The former swing master reckons the team lacked game awareness as Mohammad Rizwan took the attack against Jasprit Bumrah on the first ball of his second spell despite it being a run-a-ball situation.

Pakistan was in a shoo-in position as they were 57-1 but kept losing regular wickets and also played a lot of dot balls, which created pressure on them. 

Wasim Akram said on Star Sports, “Iftikhar Ahmed knows one shot on the leg side. He has been a part of the team for years but doesn’t know how to bat. I can’t go and tell about the game awareness to Fakhar Zaman. Pakistani players think that if they don’t perform well, the coaches will be sacked, and nothing will happen to them. It is time to keep the coaches and change the entire team.”

Akram said that Pakistan batters have all the experience under their belt but lacked the game awareness, which led to their downfall.

“They have been playing cricket for 10 years, and I can’t teach them. Rizwan has no game awareness. He should have known that Bumrah was given the ball to take wickets and that the wise thing would have been to play his deliveries cautiously. But Rizwan went for a big shot and lost his wicket.”

Pakistan should have got over the line as they had the match in their pocket but squandered a golden opportunity.

Pakistan will next take on Canada at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Tuesday.