Shahid Afridi: “Don’t fear making tough decisions. Don’t worry about losses. You’ve been leading the side for 3 years. There are professionals around you, talk to them and improve your captaincy. You’re a big player but you would want people to also remember your captaincy”
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Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi had called on Babar Azam to be a memorable captain by not being afraid to make “tough decisions” when he was in charge of the national team.
Azam led the men in green for four years before stepping down from the leadership role after the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Even though the 29-year-old had been under intense pressure prior to his resignation, Afridi had urged him to start being more bold and confident in the choices he made.
“Don’t fear making tough decisions. Don’t worry about losses. You’ve been leading the side for 3 years. There are professionals around you, talk to them and improve your captaincy. You’re a big player but you would want people to also remember your captaincy,” he was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
After stepping down from the captaincy, Azam represented Pakistan in their three-Test series against Australia and mustered 126 runs at an average of 21.
He then proceeded to make 213 runs, which included three fifties, at an average of 42.60 and a strike-rate of 142 in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
Currently, Azam is captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has made scores of 68, 72 and 31.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 9: Babar Azam (captain), Rovman Powell, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Asif Ali, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Naveen-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Salman Irshad, Arif Yaqoob, Umair Afridi, Dan Mousley, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mehran Mumtaz, Luke Wood, Sufiyan Muqeem, Waqar Salamkheil, Arshad Iqbal, Gus Atkinson, Shamar Joseph
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