Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria came down heavy on Pakistan batsman Babar Azam for failure in the ICC Champions Trophy as Pakistan became the first team to be knocked out of the showpiece event. Babar scored a controversial 81-ball fifty in the first match against New Zealand in a 300+ chase as Pakistan suffered a 60-run defeat. Against India, he could only score 23 runs as the Men in Green folded out for 241.

Kaneria questioned Babar Azam's intent and said the former Pakistan captain only scores against Zimbabwe and weaker teams. Babar has been going through an awful form across formats. In the Test series against England at home, he was dropped from the final two Tests due to an extended lean patch. In ODIs, he recently lost his top-ranked position to Shubman Gill. Since 2023, Babar has scored 1442 runs in 35 innings at an average of 45.06 and a strike rate of 82.49, which is the third worst amongst players with 1000 or more runs during the phase.

"Babar has not scored runs for so long. But when he scores, it is against Zimbabwe or against smaller teams. If he scores against big teams. So, there is no intent at all,” Kaneria told ANI.

Kaneria also slammed captain Mohammad Rizwan for his form and said it was evident that the team would perform poorly in the Champions Trophy.

"There is no depth in the batting. Salman Agha and Khushdil Shah make some contributions sometimes. Saud Shakeel is a technically correct batter. But Rizwan's bat seems to have stopped working. When the Champions Trophy squad was announced, one could see it getting eliminated pretty soon out of the tournament," he added.

Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament following defeats to New Zealand and India. They were in a must-win situation against the Rohit Sharma-led side but lost the game by six wickets.

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