Pakistan captain Babar Azam blasts team over sloppy fielding

Chennai, October 24

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On the brink of elimination from the World Cup after their shock defeat to Afghanistan, Pakistan captain Babar Azam said his players showed lack of attitude while fielding and they need to put in extra effort.

Lack of attitude

Whenever you do fielding, it is only with attitude. And I don’t see any attitude from the team. You need to put in extra effort and be fit. When the ball comes, as a fielder, you have to be proactive. So, I think we are lagging a little bit as a fielding unit. Babar Azam, Pakistan captain

The eight-wicket loss on Monday was Pakistan’s third defeat on the trot after starting the tournament with back-to-back wins.

The stunning defeat means they will need to win all their remaining four matches to be sure of a semifinals berth.

Against Afghanistan, Babar’s men were sloppy in fielding, especially at the boundary and in conceding a couple of overthrows. He blamed it on the lack of attitude from his players.

“Whenever you do fielding, it is only with attitude. And I don’t see any attitude from the team. You need to put in extra effort and be fit,” Babar said. “You should focus on the ball, not on other thoughts, and when the ball comes, as a fielder, you have to be proactive. So, I think we are lagging a little bit as a fielding unit.”

Pakistan play South Africa here on Friday and that will be a make-or-break match for them. Babar said his team needs a new approach in the remaining matches.

“We will have to go with a different plan, a different mindset, we will try to bring a positive vibe in the team,” said the captain. “I hope we learn from this loss (against Afghanistan). It will hurt us a lot. We will try to talk about positive things.”