Junaid Khan: “People say we became [the] No.1 ODI team under Babar’s captaincy. But we became No.1 by playing against weak teams. Babar is not a quick learner. He is a world-class batter but his captaincy was not up to the mark”
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Pakistan left-arm seamer Junaid Khan has blasted Babar Azam, saying he is “not a quick learner” and his “captaincy was not up to the mark.”
The men in green became the top-ranked ODI team under Azam’s leadership, but Junaid was far from impressed, pointing out that Pakistan only achieved this since they played against “weak teams.”
With the pressure mounting on Azam after a string of poor team performances, the 29-year-old resigned from the leadership role in all three formats following the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
“People say we became [the] No.1 ODI team under Babar’s captaincy. But we became No.1 by playing against weak teams. Babar is not a quick learner. He is a world-class batter but his captaincy was not up to the mark,” Junaid was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam is currently involved in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia and made scores of 21 and 14 in the first Test in Perth, which the men in green lost by 360 runs.
The second Test will begin on December 26 in Melbourne.
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, Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Shah Afridi