'Scared to face WI bowlers, fake king': Babar Azam trolled after Pakistan captain leaves tailender exposed in West Indies defeat

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'Scared to face WI bowlers, fake king': Babar Azam trolled after Pakistan captain leaves tailender exposed in West Indies defeat originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Babar Azam faced heavy criticism after Pakistan's 90-run defeat to West Indies.
  • The captain's needless strike rotation exposed tailenders during batting collapse.
  • Fans and ex-cricketers slammed Babar's tactics and questioned his captaincy return.

Babar Azam's captaincy return marred by tactical backlash in West Indies defeat

Babar Azam's comeback as Pakistan's Test captain got off to the worst possible start, as it ended in a heavy 90-run loss with the West Indies riding a fierce pace attack to victory in the series opener at Tarouba on Monday, to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

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Pakistan folded to just 120 all out in 40.4 overs, with Jayden Seales wrecking the batting line-up through a devastating five-wicket haul. The defeat stretched Pakistan's dismal run overseas to eight consecutive Test losses away from home.

While the result itself raised eyebrows, it was Babar's tactical approach alongside the lower order that generated the sharpest criticism. As Pakistan slipped to eight wickets down against a rampaging pace attack, fans naturally expected the senior batter to shield his tailenders and absorb the bulk of deliveries. However, that was not the case. 

Babar took a single off the very first ball of an over, which handed the strike to lower-order batters like Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Abbas for the remaining five deliveries.

Rather than absorbing pressure himself or manipulating the strike later in the over to protect the tail, his early hand-offs allowed West Indies' captain to set aggressive, attacking fields. With close-in fielders in place and the pace bowlers sensing an opportunity, Shahzad was left facing extended spells of hostile bowling, and it ultimately ended with him being bowled.

(Getty)

Tanveer Ahmed questions the logic behind Babar's plan

Ex-Pakistan pacer Tanveer Ahmed questioned whether the decision reflected poor game awareness or a flawed instruction from the team's coaching staff.

"There was one plan that I just didn't understand. Eight wickets are down, and Babar takes a single to give the strike to Khurram Shahzad? I didn't understand that," he said.

"Eight wickets are down; you are playing, you are the main player, and you are batting like it's a net session? Who told you to play the whole over, play five balls, take a single, and give him the strike? Taking a single on the first ball and then giving him five balls to face, resulting in Khurram Shahzad getting bowled...I don't understand whose planning this was. Was it Babar's planning, Sarfaraz's planning, or whose planning was it?"

Social media erupts with criticism of Babar Azam

Fans didn't hold back either, flooding social media with pointed criticism directed at Babar's approach during the collapse.

@mahadada wrote: "Fear is right. Fear from Babar Azam being scared to face the WI bowlers and hitting a 4 off the last ball of the over and letting his no. 11 batsman take strike instead of taking a single and protecting him from the strike. Only Bobzy can do like that!"

@Jaiswalrohit99 mocked Babar and wrote: "There's an unsaid rule in Cricket If you want to win against Pak don't take Babar Azam wicket then your winning chances will sky rocket. Let him score his useless fity he'll never win and finish matches for you.😭 #WIvsPak #Test #BabarAzam."

@shaki29407 hit out and said: "Why was Babar Azam taking a single at the start of the over when 7 wickets had already fallen?
The real question is: was he expecting the tailenders to score the remaining runs? @babarazam258 As the captain and the team's premier batter, the responsibility was yours."

Meanwhile, Furqan Bhatti went on a rant and said: "Babar Azam, I have never seen a more selfish and terrible captain in the history of Pakistan, nor will there ever be one. There should be an investigation into this Test match to figure out how someone can intentionally do something like this. How can anyone be so foolish as to make tailenders face entire overs?

"How many runs were needed to win? It wasn't like 500 runs were required, just 100 or 150. Take the lead, step up, charge, and lead from the front! Instead, he took a single on the very first ball, making Mohammad Ali face the entire over. He took a single on the first ball again, making Khurram Shahzad face the entire over. Brother, you are the captain! You are the leader! You are a fake king!

Whereas, Indian journalist @vikrantgupta73 wrote on X: "This probably is Pakistan’s worst in Test cricket. Bowling has no pace and batsmen have zero footwork against seam movement. On top of it they lack players with jigra, someone who can take the attack to the opposition."

Was Babar's approach really defensible?

Top score or not, Babar's captaincy decisions while the tailenders deserves to be criticised. Runs on a scorecard don't excuse poor game management, and that's precisely the issue here.

A senior batter's job in a collapse isn't just to accumulate personal runs; it's to shield the tail and manage the situation with the team's interests front and centre. Repeatedly taking a single on the first ball of an over, then watching tailenders get exposed to hostile fast bowling for the remaining five deliveries, isn't a minor lapse; it's a basic failure of tactical awareness that any experienced captain should have avoided instinctively.

The fact that Babar still ended up as the top scorer actually sharpens the criticism rather than softening it: he had the ability and the crease presence to control the situation far better than he did, and he simply didn't. Leadership isn't measured by personal statistics alone; it's measured by decisions made under pressure, and on that count, this was a lapse Pakistan can ill afford given their current away form.

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