Babar ‘not the right man to lead Pakistan,’ says veteran cricketer
Babar ‘not the right man to lead Pakistan,’ says veteran cricketer: There is no shortage of criticism towards the team, said Pakistan despite reaching the final in this Asia Cup. The most consistent batter in global cricket, Babar Azam, endured a horror run in the tournament that saw him score just 68 runs in six innings with a best of 30 against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, some of Babar’s tactics as captain were baffling to many, including persistently playing himself as opener and keeping Fakhar Zaman at third.
Babar may not have helped himself in this regard by again failing to reach the milestone. The fact that most of his knocks were longer innings may prove problematic for the Pakistan batsman’s future.
Former noted Pakistani cricketers, including Shoaib Akhtar, Inzamam-Ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Moin Khan, Aaqib Javed and others have been vocal about their displeasure towards Babar’s captaincy, potentially joining them is Kamran Akmal. He too has had his reservations about Babar’s form with the bat and also some of the decisions he took during the World Cup.
When Pakistan’s captain Kamran R Babar stepped down after the T-20 series against Bangladesh in January 2020, it was revealed by Akmal that he had not supported Babar to take on the captaincy. He felt Babar was too young at the time to take on the responsibility and it would be best for him to focus on his batting.
Kamran Akmal, a Pakistani batsman and captain of the Khan Research Laboratories said on his YouTube show that during a T20I in Faisalabad, Babar Azam told him himself that he wanted to become the captain of the team. He also mentioned that Kamrany advised him against it, when it was not the right time. As Babar was ‘close’ to Kamran, they probably had already spoken to each other and eventually Babar decided to take up the captaincy. Kamran gave his opinion to Babar earlier but he had decided anyways so there was no point in advising him. It is hard to say what the outcome would’ve been if Babar accepted Kamrany’s advice and waited for 2-3 years before taking hes place as captain.
Earlier in the year, Babar was awarded captaincy of all three formats by Pakistan cricket authorities and became their most successful T20I captain with 29 wins. Add to that his stellar form with the bat and Babar is currently one of a few batters in contemporary world cricket to be in the top three rankings in ODIs, Tests and T20Is. After finishing runner-up in the Asia Cup, Babar’s captaincy may have come under a bit of threat, but Akmal says stripping him of the position now would do no good for improving Pakistani cricket.
Akmal said that Misbah had been giving all stars in the team and would have continued to do so. Misbah has excellent skills and people are enjoying his batting. Cricket will go back in Pakistan if they remove their captain right now. They are better off working out his approach while he is still their skipper.
But now, after 2-3 years of development and improvement, he is finally a very capable captain who is able to utilise his bowlers as well as in the past. He has managed to have enough impact with newcomers, like Fakhar and Nawaz. Perhaps Rizwan should lower down to 3, and he himself bat at 4 if Fakhar’s form gets better? These are the thoughts that go through a captain’s mind when their team is struggling.
Read More: Malik reveals a startling confession of discussion with Babar!