Kamran Akmal: “There is no excuse for Babar Azam now to not perform to be honest. He’s got a good set of players and we might see some professional coaches joining the team soon. He needs to forget the past now and move forward”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal said there is now no excuse for limited overs captain Babar Azam “to not perform.”
Azam was recently appointed as white-ball captain and will once again be under immense pressure to lead by example with the bat while captaining the men in green.
The 29-year-old had resigned from the leadership role in all three formats back in November 2023, at which point he was struggling to score runs consistently.
But, now that he is back in charge, Akmal reiterated that Azam will have nothing and no one to blame if his runs dry up.
“There is no excuse for Babar Azam now to not perform to be honest. He’s got a good set of players and we might see some professional coaches joining the team soon. He needs to forget the past now and move forward,” he told PakPassion.
Azam recently captained the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and finished as the highest run-scorer with 569 runs in 11 games, which included a century and five fifties, at an average of 56.90 and a strike-rate of 142.60.
He is now leading Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand and has scored 56 runs in four games at an average of 18.66 and a strike-rate of 121.73.
Pakistan are 2-1 down in the series into the fifth T20I, which will take place in Lahore on April 27.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Zaman Khan
Non-travelling reserves: Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha
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