WATCH: Babar Azam pins blame on his teammates after Pakistan’s early exit from T20 World Cup

It was a happy end to the T20 World Cup for Pakistan cricket team after their 3-wicket win over Ireland on Sunday. Babar Azam was not out on 32 as Pakistan nearly made a meal of the 107-run target before winning the match. 

Babar Azam came out and put the blame on his teammates after Pakistan’s early exit from the tournament. The 29-year-old said that the inability to play as a team cost Pakistan dear as they failed to make it to the Super-8 stages. During the press meet, Babar said, "As a captain, I cannot play for every player. We lost as a team."

Babar Azam said "As a captain, I cannot play for every player. We lost as a team" 🇵🇰💔💔💔#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/WS8q5QGXuX

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) June 16, 2024

Chasing 107 to win, Pakistan were 62/6 at one stage and staring at yet another loss. Abbas Afridi and Babar Azam then added 33 crucial runs for the 7th wicket to take the team to the safe. Two sixes from the blade of Shaheen Afridi helped Pakistan take home the consolation win. 

Babar Azam comes up with explosive defense behind Pakistan’s poor show

Current Pakistan T20 skipper Babar Azam opened up about his team's poor performance during the T20 World Cup. When asked to comment on the early exit from the tournament, Babar Azam decided to shift the blame on his team. 

The Pakistani skipper said, “Sir, I've said this before that everyone is disheartened (because of our performance). We didn't play as a team. This is not because of an individual as we lost as a team. It's not just the captain. I cannot play for every player as there are 11 players.”

Babar Azam said, “They are in the World Cup because each player has an assigned role. The execution wasn't there and we had to sit down and work out what needed to be done. I accept that we didn't play as a team”

Pakistan began their tournament with a shock loss to the USA as the match ended as a tie in regulation time. Mohammad Amir’s expensive Super Over meant that Pakistan fell short by 5 runs and lost the match. 

In the very next match against India, the men in green failed to chase a paltry total of 120. At one stage, Pakistan were in the driver's seat needing less than run-a-ball and had 8 wickets in hand. Pakistan though committed hara-kiri and lost the match by 6 runs before winning their first game of the campaign against Canada. 

When asked to look back on the T20 World Cup, Babar Azam remarked, “Let's see, what team needs, I'll be okay with it. We have a good bunch of players, we've to go home, chat and see where we lacked, and then come back.”