ISLAMABAD: Disappointed by Pakistan team’s loss in the second Twenty20 International to Australia in Canberra on Tuesday, former speedster Shoaib Akhtar said there is no batsmen in the team who could take responsibility like skipper Babar Azam.

“I feel disappointed for Pakistan and especially for Babar who played superbly in both the T20s. There is no batsman who can take command like Babar,” Shoaib said on his YouTube channel.

Opening the innings, right-handed Babar hit a 38-ball 50 on Tuesday. The Lahore-born youngster had smashed 59 not out on Sunday in the first T20 in Sydney which was washed out.

“I am saddened that Babar’s [batting] efforts went in vain,” Shoaib lamented.

Shoaib, known as Rawalpindi Express, said the wicket was hard and had even bounce but the Pakistan batsmen could not take advantage of it. “The ball was coming nicely on the bat but Pakistani openers failed to capitalise on that,” he said and added that the touring batsmen did not show any sense of maturity in building the innings.

“Pakistan could have easily scored 200 or around that on this particular wicket,” reckoned Shoaib. “But our batsmen Haris Sohail, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan lacked the maturity shown by [Australian batsman] Steve Smith later,” he observed.

Shoaib said pacer Mohammad Amir bowled well but Mohammad Irfan was struggling because of his leg problems. “The management should have thought twice before before picking Irfan in the team,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2019