Babar Azam has been under the scanner since Pakistan lost their first game of the T20 World Cup 2024 against the United States.
Babar Azam has been under the scanner since Pakistan lost their first game of the T20 World Cup 2024 against the United States. The situation was exacerbated when Pakistan made a mess of a low chase against India and lost the game by six runs.
Babar has always been scrutinised for his decisions as a leader on the field, and rightly so. His choices have cost Pakistan numerous times, and Babar still doesn’t learn from his mistakes, leading to defeats.
Talking on Ten Sports, Shoaib Malik requested Babar Azam to leave the captaincy and show his class as a batter. Malik feels Babar will be benefitted if he doesn’t take any additional responsibility on his shoulders.
“I have been saying for a long time – please leave captaincy. You are a class player, and you will only be able to show your class when you do not have additional responsibilities on you. If Babar stays away from captaincy, it will be good for him.”
The strike rate of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan has always been a talking point, for their approach often leads to negative impact innings. Shoaib Malik felt Babar Azam shouldn’t have focused on the strike rate against India because the total was ideal for his style of play.
“People keep talking about Babar and Rizwan’s strike rates, so you brought in Saim Ayub. Yesterday, it was a 120 chase, why were you trying to improve your strike rate yesterday? The platform was set in every manner. If as a leader and a batter, your brain doesn’t kick in, in these sorts of situations, when will it? I am forced to say today that the core of this team, in the T20I format, I think we have to stop backing them.”
Babar Azam has already been accused of not being on talking terms with Shaheen Afridi since the captaincy saga. Now, he is in further trouble due to the shambolic performance of Pakistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Babar’s own form hasn’t been as convincing, either. Pakistan still have two games to go but would need to win both and hope some results go their way if they are to qualify for Super Eight.
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