Former England captain stated that Pakistan's white-ball skipper Babar Azam is not even among the top 15 players in T20 cricket.
His statement came after the Men in Green were knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2024.
While talking to Cricbuzz, Vaughan stressed that Babar is also not suited to captain in the format.
"I just don't see him as a T20 captain. I see him as a Test and ODI format captain. He excels in those formats as a player. In T20s, he's very good. He's a pure player but he's not up there with, I would say, the top 15 batters in the world in T20 cricket. I think there are better players at the top of the order who could play fearless cricket and whack it 360 degrees," he added.
Vaughan also placed questions over the ability of Babar’s T20I batting and was uncertain if he would make the cut for other leading sides around the world. “I don’t think they have the skill set of what I’ve seen in the past from Pakistan cricket in T20 cricket. I honestly don’t think they’ve got many great T20 players. Babar Azam is exceptional, but would he make England’s, Australia’s, India’s, or the West Indies’ T20 teams? Probably not,” Vaughan said.
Meanwhile, he believes they were poor in the tournament and should have won the games against the USA and India.
“They cant blame the weather. They should have beaten US and India. If they did, they would have been through to the Super 8s. I just don’t see Pakistan at the moment as a great white-ball team. Even when they went to the final in the last (T20) World Cup, I didn’t think they were a great side. They just did what Pakistan do. I’ve said earlier that they should have won that game against England,” he added.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan lost their first two matches of the World Cup against the USA and India which made their chances of qualifying for the Super 8 difficult as they were no longer dependent on themselves.
Pakistan defeated Canada in their third match but they needed Ireland to beat the USA. However, the match between the two sides was called off due to rain in Florida and both teams were awarded one point.
With one point given, the USA took their points tally to five which saw them earning a place in the Super 8 of the World Cup as Pakistan could no longer catch them.
- Babar Azam
