WC 2023: Babar Azam was extremely timid against India, says Gautam Gambhir

Former India opening batter Gautam Gambhir said that Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was extremely timid against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India beat Pakistan by 7 wickets to register their third win in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

Speaking to Star Sports, Gambhir said Babar was extremely timid against India, adding that both Mohammad Rizwan and Babar were batting the same way. Babar scored 50 runs off 58 balls but Pakistan could manage to post just 191 runs in the first innings.

“Babar Azam has been extremely timid. Two batters cannot bat the same way in a partnership, one of them has to take chances. If you are playing for a fifty or your runs, you will get such results,” said Gambhir.

He went on to say that there isn't a single batter in Pakistan’s top-three who can take on the opposition attack. Pakistan failed to hit even a single six against India in Ahmedabad.

“Babar Azam has scored a lot of runs for himself but it's been Pakistan's history that they have liked to bat aggressively at the start, whether it was Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir or



Taufeeq Umar, and they consolidate in the middle. However, here in the top three, there isn't a single batter who can take on the opposition attack,” Gambhir added.

Speaking about Babar’s dismissal, Gambhir it was an extremely bad shot, adding that one doesn’t expect such a shot from a world-class batter. India’s win against Pakistan propelled them to the top of the World Cup 2023 points table, overtaking New Zealand due to a superior net run-rate of +1.821.

“It was an extremely bad shot. You don't expect such a shot from a world-class batter. You had scored 50 runs and played nearly 60 balls, you knew there wasn't much bounce and it was not the length where you could have played the late cut. You could have punched it,” said Gambhir.

After bowling Pakistan out for 191 runs in the first innings, India chased down the target with 7 wickets in hand on the back of half-centuries from Rohit and Shreyas Iyer.

Following their win against Pakistan, India will turn its attention towards Bangladesh, with the two sides set to clash at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on October 19.