Shoaib Akhtar: “Who made Babar Azam the captain in the first place? Who was the Einstein? I need to know that guy. Does he qualify for this job? Does he even know anything about captaincy? I’ve been saying that Babar Azam is not [captaincy] material”
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Legendary Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has questioned “who was the Einstein” that made Babar Azam captain “in the first place”.
Akhtar wants to know who was responsible in order to judge whether that person is qualified to do their job and whether they “even know anything about captaincy”.
The Rawalpindi Express added that he has constantly voiced his opinion that Azam is “not [captaincy] material”.
Akhtar’s remarks come after Pakistan endured a horrendous campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which saw them get knocked out in the group stage.
“Who made Babar Azam the captain in the first place? Who was the Einstein? I need to know that guy. Does he qualify for this job? Does he even know anything about captaincy? I’ve been saying that Babar Azam is not [captaincy] material,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam was Pakistan’s highest run-scorer in the T20 World Cup with 122 runs in four matches at an average of 40.66 and a strike-rate of 101.66.
The men in green started off with losses to the United States of America and India before fighting back to beat Canada and Ireland.
Even though they triumphed in their last two group stage games, Pakistan failed to advance to the Super Eights.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed