Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi spoke about the criticism that Babar Azam is facing in the ongoing T20 World 2024. He said that people can always criticize him for his leadership but he has been a consistent batsman for the Pakistan team despite not be a match winner like Virat. Kohli.
All tides have turned against Babar Azam as the Pakistan captain has come under serious scrutiny after the team’s debacle in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. Under his leadership, the Men in Green faced to an early exit from the tournament after failing to reach the goal. Super 8 stage of the event.
Babar Azam, as captain, failed to win the match against the United States of America. He was rated as one of the biggest surprises in cricket history. After that, Pakistan lost the game to India from the winning position and then that affected their chances of qualifying for the Super 8.
On the batting front, Babar Azam has also failed as a batsman. He has compiled only 91 runs in three innings with a strike rate of around 104. His poor batting performance was one of the main reasons why Pakistan was eliminated from the tournament at the league stage.
Shahid Afridi admitted that Babar Azam has not played in the World Cups but he has developed. While talking about his leadership, he criticized Batter, saying that he has not won anything in the last 3 or 4 years, and questioned the selection committee for making him captain again. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained:
“Fellow cricket lovers on social media should criticize Babar’s captaincy but consistent players like him are rare in Pakistan cricket. Babar’s performances have been good. Yes, in fact, he has not been able to perform in the World Cup I have always wanted to See Babar emerge as a winner while talking about Virat Kohli He was not a winner from day 1 but he has developed.
“Babar Azam is being criticized. This is happening because he is the captain. I am an admirer of Babar (but) he has been given 3-3.5 years as captain and there has not been any striking result nor has there been any improvement. The first question to the selection committee is that when he didn’t show any improvement (before), (why) was he re-elected captain?
Shahid Afridi, while talking about bad captaincy, added that a leader’s decision is very important and Babar Azam has not been able to improve. He elaborated:
“As a player, we have never criticized Babar, but only his captaincy. A leader’s decision matters a lot: he can change the result of a match, and a captain should be able to interact with the players. These are some of the things Babar has fact, unable to improve.”
This question needs to be asked (to the selection committee) why Babar Azam was re-elected captain – Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi further questioned Babar Azam’s re-election as captain of the team, stating that Mohammad Rizwan was the best choice as captain. He also claimed that Babar should have supported Shaheen Afridi when he was made captain of the team.
“This question has to be asked (to the selection committee) why Babar was re-elected captain. Mohammad Rizwan was the next best option after Babar. Rizwan has positive body language and does not indulge in blame games.”
