Misbah-ul-Haq: “In crucial matches, while defending a target, Babar doesn’t have the shrewdness and street smartness you need”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq remains unconvinced about Babar Azam as captain, saying he “doesn’t have the shrewdness and street smartness you need”.
Azam’s leadership skills have been thrust into the spotlight once again following Pakistan’s abysmal showing in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Misbah noted that one of the longstanding problems with the 29-year-old’s captaincy is around team selection as he sticks with the same players instead of looking to replace those who are not performing.
“In crucial matches, while defending a target, Babar doesn’t have the shrewdness and street smartness you need. Even in terms of selection, we’ve seen this since the ODI World Cup and Asia Cup that when something isn’t working, you don’t search for a solution. You think it’ll just happen, but it doesn’t. You have to find a solution,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
In the T20 World Cup, Azam scored 122 runs in four matches at an average of 40.66 and a strike-rate of 101.66.
Pakistan lost to the United States of America and India before claiming back-to-back wins over Canada and Ireland.
Despite this, they failed to make it to the Super Eights and saw their campaign come to an end in the group stage.
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
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