Shahid Afridi: “We’ve led the team too, like myself, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, but Babar has had sufficient opportunities. Let’s make one decisive move and back him wholeheartedly with whatever he brings”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Iconic Pakistan power-hitter Shahid Afridi believes it’s time to make a decision on Babar Azam’s future as limited overs captain as he “has had sufficient opportunities”.
Afridi insisted a “decisive move” is needed, after which everyone should back the 29-year-old “wholeheartedly”.
His comments come after Pakistan had a disastrous campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup, where they were knocked out in the group stage.
“We’ve led the team too, like myself, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, but Babar has had sufficient opportunities. Let’s make one decisive move and back him wholeheartedly with whatever he brings,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam was Pakistan’s top 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 concluding their campaign with wins over Canada and Ireland.
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