Shoaib Malik: “He [was] doing captaincy but the improvement [was] not coming”
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Veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik said Babar Azam could no longer survive as Pakistan captain since he wasn’t improving at all.
Azam stepped down from the leadership role in all three formats and was subsequently replaced by Shan Masood as Test captain and Shaheen Shah Afridi as T20I skipper.
To make matters worse, the 29-year-old was also not at his best with the bat over the past couple of months, which proved to be a problem for Pakistan.
“He [was] doing captaincy but the improvement [was] not coming,” Malik was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
In the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, Azam amassed 320 runs in nine matches, which included four half-centuries, at an average of 40.
Pakistan started off by beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before suffering four straight defeats at the hands of India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They managed to bounce back with wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand, but they ended up falling short of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Pakistan concluded their World Cup campaign in dismal fashion as England thrashed them by 93 runs.
Azam will now represent Pakistan in their three-match Test series against Australia, which will start on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series:Â Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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