Shoaib Malik: “Babar Azam should not be captain. He’s a class batter and that class will only come through when he doesn’t have the additional responsibility of captaincy”
Image courtesy of: Unsplash
Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik believes Babar Azam “should not be captain” and needs to instead focus on getting back to his best as a batsman.
He noted that the only way for Azam’s class to shine through as a batsman is when he is free of the pressure of the captaincy.
The 29-year-old is under immense pressure at the moment as his leadership skills have been thrust into the spotlight once again following Pakistan’s abysmal campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“Babar Azam should not be captain. He’s a class batter and that class will only come through when he doesn’t have the additional responsibility of captaincy,” Malik was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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 lost to the United States of America and India before bouncing back to defeat Canada and Ireland.
However, those two victories went in vain as Pakistan were eliminated in the group stage of the competition.
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