Shahid Afridi: “Two to three bad games don’t make you a bad player”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Shahid Afridi, who recently served as interim chief selector, believes it is completely ridiculous for people to think that Pakistan captain Babar Azam is a “bad player” if he doesn’t score runs in two or three games.
Azam endured a rough patch of form in the lead-up to and during the 2022 T20 World Cup. This caused him to be targeted by his critics, who didn’t hold back.
However, Afridi, who captained Pakistan in the past, came to the defence of the 28-year-old, saying he has won so many games for Pakistan.
He further added it is incomprehensible that fans and pundits would put Azam in their crosshairs after he stumbles in a couple of matches.
“Two to three bad games don’t make you a bad player!” the famed power-hitter was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
In the recent home series against New Zealand, Azam was in fantastic form as he amassed 226 runs in the two-Test series, which included a top score of 161, at an average of 56.50.
He then made 149 runs in the three-match ODI series that followed, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 49.66.
Despite excelling with the bat, Azam could potentially lose the captaincy in one or more formats as there has been talk of splitting it.
So far, Shan Masood has been one name mentioned as a potential successor in ODIs.