Shahid Afridi: “Yes, he kept becoming a big player but I wanted him to become as big a captain as he is a player, honestly speaking, I couldn’t see in Babar what I was hoping [to see]”
Image courtesy of: Unsplash
Legendary big-hitter Shahid Afridi has conceded that he couldn’t see Pakistan star Babar Azam becoming as good of a captain as he was a batsman.
Azam was appointed captain in 2019 and despite scoring plenty of runs in all three formats during his tenure, his leadership skills were frequently questioned.
Ultimately, he stepped down from the role after the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where he amassed 320 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
Afridi acknowledged that while the 29-year-old grew as a batsman, the same could not be said about his captaincy skills.
“Yes, he kept becoming a big player but I wanted him to become as big a captain as he is a player, honestly speaking, I couldn’t see in Babar what I was hoping [to see],” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Pakistan started the World Cup with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they bounced back to triumph over Bangladesh and New Zealand, they missed out on a spot in the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign in dismal fashion as England crushed them by 93 runs.
Azam’s next assignment will be Pakistan’s three-Test series against Australia, which starts on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: 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
[TS_Poll id=”100″]