Rashid Latif: “He should not have accepted captaincy again. Neither the team was performing nor was he scoring big. This resignation has come very late and that has not only cost him badly, but also the team”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif believes Babar Azam waited too long to resign as limited overs captain and it “cost him badly”.
Azam stepped down from the role at the beginning of October, but Latif questioned why he even accepted the job in the first place, especially since he quit as captain in all three formats in November 2023.
Latif pointed out that the limited overs leadership position did nothing but add more pressure on the 30-year-old as he was already struggling to score runs consistently – a problem that endured throughout his tenure.
“He should not have accepted captaincy again. Neither the team was performing nor was he scoring big. This resignation has come very late and that has not only cost him badly, but also the team,” he told AFP as quoted by NDTV.
Azam recently played in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh and made 64 runs at an average of 16.
He then proceeded to represent the Stallions in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition that took place in Faisalabad.
In four games, he amassed 230 runs, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 76.66.
Following this, the Lahore native featured in the first Test against England and made scores of 30 and 5.
He was subsequently removed from the squad for the second and third Tests, but Pakistan still managed to claim a 2-1 win, which was their first Test series victory at home since 2021.
Next up, Pakistan will tour Australia for three ODIs and three T20Is from November 4 to 18.
They will then head to Zimbabwe for three ODIs and three T20Is from November 24 to December 5.
Pakistan Squad for Australia ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for Australia T20I Series: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe T20I Series: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan
[TS_Poll id=”100″]