Star batter Babar Azam has responded to criticism from former Pakistan players, asserting that there should be no room for 'below the belt' attacks on individuals. While admitting that facing scrutiny is part of the job, Babar claimed that 'personal attacks' have become far too common, especially within the Pakistan cricketing landscape. The former captain also sympathized with teammate Shadab Khan for speaking out against criticism from ex-players following the team's early exit from the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Responding to the likes of Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yousuf, Shadab directed a sharp retort at the former players, noting that they were never part of a team that defeated India in a World Cup game. His comments have sparked a massive furore back in Pakistan. "When they speak about things, it's right, but if the current player has said something, it's not right. Anyway, it's a different ball game. Shadab said something in the...
The Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry hailed India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues for batting India into the ICC Women's ODI World Cup final, saying their composure under pressure earned applause even from the Australian dressing room. India pulled off the highest successful run chase in women's ODIs to book a place in Sunday's title clash with South Africa, ending Australia's reign as champions. “It's really easy to stand here in retrospect and throw ideas into the wind,” Perry said when asked if Australia could have done anything differently. “But at the end of the day, all of us in our dressing room would applaud Harman and Jemi for the way that they played, the way that they went about that chase after probably losing two early wickets in the power play. They just made us pay. All credit goes to them as opposed to anything that we did or didn't do.”
Australia's experienced all-rounder also made it clear that her team would not dwell on the missed chances that proved costly, after Jemimah was dropped twice — once on 82 and again on 106 — in India's record chase. “For all of us, the intent is to always fight and to take on the challenge and be there until the game's done. So as long as you're giving all your effort, that's all you can do, and it is sport at the end of the day,” she said.
“Everyone's out there doing absolutely everything they can to perform. You never mean to make mistakes, but when you're playing in pressure situations and there's a lot on the line, things happen. For us, I don't think we ever talk about it. You just move on straight away. Everyone's doing absolutely all they can. Sometimes those things happen and no one means it, and we're just there to support each other.”
Perry's own performance was outstanding — she scored 77 and shared a 155-run partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (119) to set up Australia's total of 338. But she brushed aside her contribution in light of the team's result.
“I think my innings is pretty irrelevant,” she said. “At the end of the day, in big matches across two teams, there's so much talent, so much experience, and exceptional performances, so someone's going to have a day out at least. From our side, Phoebe was just phenomenal. I thought the way Ash (Ashleigh Gardner) finished the innings was brilliant as well. She's been unbelievable. But then on the flip side, that partnership between Harman and Jemi was special, and they made it count in their home conditions.”
Australia's semifinal defeat was their first in an ICC tournament since 2017 — coincidentally also against India. Perry, however, refused to hide behind excuses.
“You can't walk away with excuses from a loss in the semifinal because at the end of the day, you need to be able to perform on the day that matters the most,” she said. “But at the same time, we can be super proud of the style of cricket that we've played throughout this tournament, and even across the last 12 months. We're all really committed to that, the way we go about it.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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