Rashid Latif: “It’s my opinion that Babar Azam’s biggest mistake was to accept the captaincy again. If he continues as captain, that will be an even bigger mistake by him. Pakistan has found a great batsman after so many years who is dominating the world”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif believes Babar Azam made a bad decision to accept the limited overs captaincy earlier this year, but feels it “will be an even bigger mistake” if he opts to continue leading the team following the disastrous campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
The men in green failed to make it out of the group stage in the tournament and lost to the United States of America, which proved to be a dark day in Pakistan cricket.
Latif noted that Azam shouldn’t be involved in the politics that surround the captaincy as he is one of the greatest batsmen Pakistan has unearthed “after so many years” and is “dominating the world”.
Instead of leading the national team, Latif feels the 29-year-old should focus on scoring runs consistently and being a match-winner.
“It’s my opinion that Babar Azam’s biggest mistake was to accept the captaincy again. If he continues as captain, that will be an even bigger mistake by him. Pakistan has found a great batsman after so many years who is dominating the world; he shouldn’t get involved in this politics,” 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.
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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