If Pakistan's captain Babar Azam doesn't have a strong tournament with the bat later this year, according to former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, Pakistan won't be able to win the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
Waqar Younis, a former player for Pakistan, recently claimed that his team had a strong chance of winning a second T20 World Cup championship in Australia, but Ponting isn't so confident.
Although the two-time World Cup champion captain recognises the brilliance of star pacer Shaheen Afridi and the cunning of Mohammad Rizwan at the top of the order, he claimed their batting lineup is overly dependent on captain and top-ranked batter Babar.
In the most recent episode of The ICC Review, Ponting stated, "If Babar doesn't have a spectacular tournament, I don't think they can win."
The sky was the limit for this man as far as Test match batting (was concerned) when I watched him up close and personal a couple of years ago out here in a Test series against Australia, and if anything, he's probably gotten better and better in the previous couple of years.
The task of the spin bowler in Australia may be a little bit more challenging given the likely lack of support from the wickets, he added. Their openers and new-ball bowlers are both very essential for Australia.
Notably, Australia, Ponting's former team, eliminated Pakistan from the last T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates after defeating them in the quarterfinals.