New Delhi. Pakistan captain Babar Azam is being questioned after his poor performance in the World Cup 2023. As for the World Cup, the team could win only 4 matches out of 9 and did not even reach the semi-finals. From Shoaib Malik to Moeen Khan, everyone is in favor of giving the captaincy to some other player instead of Babar. Now former Indian captain and veteran cricketer Shahid Afridi has also questioned Babar Azam’s captaincy. He said that Babar has been captaining for the last 3-4 years. We are all supporting him, but he has made many mistakes in the meantime.
Journalist Imran Siddiqui has posted a video of Pakistan’s former chief selector Shahif Afridi on X. In the video, Afridi is seen saying that people say I am criticizing Babar Azam, but he is like my younger brother. He was given 3 to 4 years to learn about captaincy and improve as a leader. We all supported him and there was no pressure from anywhere. But he made many mistakes. It is known that before the World Cup, Babar was also the number-1 batsman in the world. But due to a poor performance in the tournament, Shubman Gill took away the number-1 position from him.
Advice for select players only
Shahid Afridi said that a leader does not take only 2 or 3 players but everyone. Younis Khan was a leader in our time. They did not take any decision without asking us. Afridi has slammed Babar for taking advice on selected players in a way. Vice captain Shadab Khan is considered close to him. There was talk of Shadab being stripped of the vice-captaincy following his poor performance in the Asia Cup, but Babar came in favor of him.
An important meeting will be held with the PCB chairman
Earlier, fast bowler Mohammad Amir questioned Babar Azam and said that more things depend on the captain than the system. In such a situation, the responsibility of the captain is more. Babar Azam reached Lahore on Monday. It is believed that he himself will not leave his post. They will wait for PCB’s decision on the matter. Babar will meet PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf this week and after the meeting will decide on the captaincy of all formats.
Couldn’t win any title
Babar Azam was made captain of the limited overs team for the first time in 2019, while in 2021 he also captained the Test team. He led the Pakistan team in 2 Asia Cups, 2 T20 World Cups and the current ODI World Cup, but the team did not win any titles during this time. Zaka Ashraf said that he will take the opinion of former cricketers before taking any decision on Babar. Pakistan is scheduled to tour Australia and New Zealand in December-January. If the PCB changes the captain, it can assign this responsibility to any one of batsman Shan Masood, wicketkeeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed and fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.
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Tags: Babar Azam, Shahid Afridi, World Cup 2023
First published: November 13, 2023, 19:42 IST