Hosts Pakistan and Bangladesh have had several similarities in their disappointing ICC Champions Trophy exits.
It means three players from India occupy spots inside the top five.
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar slammed Babar Azam for his showings in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, calling him ‘a fraud’, and also put the Pakistan team on blast for their lacklustre performance.
Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has come down hard on the right-hander, calling his batting style outdated and reminiscent of the 1980s.
New Zealand underlined their title aspirations with a 60-run victory against defending champions Pakistan in a Group A match of the Champions Trophy at the National Stadium on Wednesday.
In what will be Pakistan’s first ICC tournament played on home soil since 1996, there is a lot on the line for this team.
Pakistan's star batter Babar Azam is going through a lean patch with the bat in ODIs, having not scored a hundred in the format for over two years.
Sarfaraz, who was the captain of the Pakistan side that lifted the Champions Trophy in 2017, wants the Men in Green to play intense but smart cricket against arch-rivals India on February 23, when the two sides face-off in Dubai.
Mohammad Rizwan will lead the team, having done so since Babar Azam stepped down from the role after the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in 2023. This is the first 50-over ICC tournament since then.
Babar Azam-led Pakistan will play four-match series against defending champions England from May 22-30. The series will be an important one for Pakistan and England ahead of the T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies.
It took Babar past Uganda's Brian Masaba for the most wins by male T20I captains and in front of former skippers in the ilk of England's Eoin Morgan, India's MS Dhoni and Australia's Aaron Finch.
Pakistan beat Ireland by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international in Dublin on Sunday to set up a deciding showdown in the three-match series.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has closed the gap on India dynamo Suryakumar Yadav at the top of the ICC Men's T20I Batter Rankings following an excellent end to his side's series against New Zealand.
Azam's 44-ball 69 and Fakhar Zaman's 33-ball 43 took Pakistan to 178-5 in their 20 overs before Shaheen claimed 4-30 to restrict New Zealand to 169 in 19.2 overs
"To be honest the batting wasn't that bad. We managed to catch up later on but I think we were 10 runs short and you know Rizwan also faced a setback and got injured so a new batter had to step in but as you know it's not easy for a new batter to adjust early on," Babar said.
Mark Chapman hit an undefeated 87 to lead an under-strength New Zealand to a shock seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the third Twenty20 international in Rawalpindi on Sunday.
“We support each other in every situation. Our aim is to put Pakistan first, and how to put Pakistan’s name up in lights.,” Babar said
Azam regained the captaincy last month in a shock U-turn that ended the short-lived reign of Shaheen Shah Afridi, raising fears of a rift between the players.
Ahead of Pakistan’s home assignment against New Zealand, newly appointed head coach Azhar Mahmood spoke in detail about his squad, player combinations, and strategies.
