Rashid Latif: “Whatever is happening to Babar right now, the same thing happened to Sarfaraz a few years ago. That was a big mistake and we raised our voices against that. It was a very bad move. We still haven’t recovered from that”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif said everything captain Babar Azam is going through right now, the same thing happened to Sarfaraz Ahmed when he was leading the side a few years ago.
There has been a lot of criticism thrown Azam’s way as the national team have failed to deliver the results expected of them.
They were whitewashed 3-0 in their Test series against England and drew 0-0 in their two-Test series against New Zealand. Following this, they were beaten 2-1 by the Black Caps in a three-match ODI series.
Many people subsequently called for Azam to be removed as captain, while speculation surfaced that a split captaincy model would be implemented.
However, Latif feels it would be a big mistake to replace the 28-year-old, especially considering what happened when Sarfaraz was stripped of the captaincy.
“Whatever is happening to Babar right now, the same thing happened to Sarfaraz a few years ago. That was a big mistake and we raised our voices against that. It was a very bad move. We still haven’t recovered from that,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam was rested for Pakistan’s recent three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, which they lost 2-1.
Pakistan will now play a limited overs series against New Zealand, which will begin on April 14 and comprise five T20Is and five ODIs.