Former Indian star Mohammed Kaif’s critical assessment on Pakistan’s World Cup 2023 campaign

Pakistan’s 2023 World Cup campaign got off to a strong start before losing to India, their bitter rivals.

Following their elimination in the group stage of the 2023 World Cup, Pakistan has gone home. Before the tournament began, many had picked Babar Azam and company as one of the favorites to be in the top four. Although they had a great start, Pakistan’s campaign began to wane after they were humiliated by India by seven wickets in their third match.

After losing to India, they suffered three straight losses. They had begun the World Cup with two straight victories, the second of which came against Sri Lanka, when they broke their record for the most successful run chase in the tournament’s history. Pakistan was never able to fully bounce back from that run.

The fact that Pakistan’s star players were losing form was one of the reasons for their early elimination. While it started with captain Babar Azam, pacers Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and spin-bowling all-rounder Shadab Khan being well below their best, promising young pacer Naseem Shah was already ruled out before the tournament even began.

Despite being their top scorer with 395 runs in nine matches at an average of 65.83, wicketkeeper-battler Mohammad Rizwan is currently ranked 13th in the tournament’s overall scoring standings.

According to former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif, Pakistan’s pacers—in particular, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar—were too amiable and less threatening than they formerly were. “It seems like their pacers were too good and the Pakistani team was too soft.” Waqar, Shoaib, and Wasim exuded intimidation. Even the sledge would ogle you. In a post on X, he remarked, “Babar, Shaheen, and Rauf lacked that aura, they looked too friendly.” Pakistan has not advanced to the semifinals in the last six World Cups, which is the fifth time in that history.