T20 WC 2026: Ricky Ponting speaks about Babar Azam's knock against Netherlands

In the T20 World Cup 2026 match against the Netherlands Pakistans premier batsman Babar Azam scored 15 runs in 18 balls with the help of a boundarySpeaking about his performance former Australian captain Ricky Ponting stated that by playing such a knock the batsman not only puts pressure on himself but also on the nonstrikerIf youre 15 off 18 balls youre not just putting pressure on yourself youre putting pressure on the guy at the other end he saidThe guy at the other end then knows that hes got to be the one to take up the boundary scoring Babar needs to hit boundaries early on He needs to get off and going he needs two boundaries in his first six balls otherwise the whole momentum of the game is going to change every time he goes in added PontingHe then feels that Babar has lost his ballstriking ability and said that the Green Shirts will need the best version of him going further in the global showpieceIt just looks to me like hes lost a bit of his power his ball striking ability like taking that spinner on the way he did and not being able to even go close to clearing it I defended him at the start of the tournament a big name player in a big event experience you need those players in your side if youre going to win Pakistan need the best version of Babar Azam if theyre going to go further in this tournament said the former cricketerFurther speaking Ponting feels that the righthanded batsman should bat at number three and explained the reason saying that the players coming to bat after him have enough power to strike the ballI would even think about batting him at No3 I think the earlier he goes in if he can get some time inside the Powerplay with the field up I think thats going to help him because if he has just lost that little bit of power then you need everything in your favour So having only two fielders out would help him The guys that are batting after him have got plenty of power anyway They can take advantage of those middle overs with the spinners on and the fielders out he saidTheyve got a big decision to make whether he stays in or whether they leave him out Ponting concludedThe Green Shirts however managed to secure a win by three wickets against the Netherlands They will now lock horns with the United States of America USA on February 10 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Sri LankaPakistans squad for the T20 World Cup 2026Fakhar Zaman Mohammad Nawaz Babar Azam Sahibzada Farhan Salman Ali Agha C Faheem Ashraf Shadab Khan Shaheen Shah Afridi Abrar Ahmed Usman Khan WK Naseem Shah Saim Ayub Salman Mirza Khawaja Nafay WK Usman TariqWith ANI Inputs