"Twisted My Words, Called Me Traitor": Ex-Pakistan Star On His 'Virat Kohl Advice To Babar Azam

Following his side's disappointing defeat to Afghanistan in the World Cup, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has been on the receiving end of some harsh criticism from several current and former players. Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by eight wickets on Monday, their first win over Pakistan in One-Day Internationals. The defeat has been a hard pill to swallow for current and former Pakistan players. While some have suggested that Babar is a clueless, others have urged that the star batter should quit captaincy.

While comparing his current situation with former India skipper Virat Kohli, who has rediscovered his lost form since losing his captaincy, former Pakistan batter Basit Ali has re-iterated that Babar should do the same.

"I told one year ago on my channel that Babar Azam is a very good batter. He should quit captaincy, just like Virat Kohli did. Virat stepped down and looked at his performances. His performance will become better, for sure," Ali said on ARY News.

Ali revealed that he was labelled as a traitor for asking Babar to step down from captaincy.

"But, as we all know, certain people on social media twisted my words, saying I don't like Babar Azam and I am a traitor," he added.

On Pakistan's loss to Afghanistan, Babar admitted "we are hurt".

"We are hurt as a team. We must feel the disappointment and my message to my team for the remaining matches will be to learn from this defeat," Babar had said.

With three defeats from five games, Pakistan now face a formidable South Africa in Chennai on Friday.

Afghanistan also now have two wins in five matches.