Wasim Akram: “He will prove to be the best captain”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Wasim Akram, the legendary left-arm pace bowler, is convinced Babar Azam will prove he was the right choice to be Pakistan captain.
The 28-year-old has come under heavy criticism as of late over his captaincy tactics, especially after the national team endured a nightmarish home season earlier in 2023.
This led to speculation about a potential change in captaincy in one or more formats, but all the talk seems to have cooled as Azam has continued leading the side in all forms of the game.
Wasim knows that Azam is under pressure, but has backed him to show everyone why he deserved to be entrusted with the leadership role.
“He will prove to be the best captain,” the Sultan of Swing told Cricket Pakistan.
Azam has done well with the bat over the past few months as he accumulated 76 runs in two Test matches against Sri Lanka at an average of 25.33.
He then made 113 runs in three ODIs against Afghanistan, which included two fifties, at an average of 37.66.
Recently, he captained Pakistan in the Asia Cup and finished with 207 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 151, at an average of 51.75.
Pakistan were in good form at the start of the tournament as they demolished Nepal by 238 runs before sharing one point apiece with India after their match was rained off.
Having progressed to the Super Four stage, the men in green went on to crush Bangladesh by seven wickets.
However, things began to go downhill when India hammered them by 228 runs.
Pakistan still had the opportunity to make it to the Asia Cup final in their match against Sri Lanka on September 14 in Colombo, but they ended up losing by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir