Babar Azam should Quit captaincy: Former Pakistan Great speaks up after defeat against India

After sustaining a heavy defeat against India in the much-anticipated match of the ODI World Cup 2023, Pakistan’s top-tire batsman and captain Babar Azam is under heavy criticism. Even though Pakistan has won 2 out of the 3 matches they’ve played so far in the World Cup, which includes a historic chase against Sri Lanka, the one-sided loss to arch-rival has done great damage to Babar Azam’s credibility as the Pakistan captain.

What did Former Pakistan players say after the loss?

Such is the effect of the loss against India that even his former teammate and one of Pakistan’s great all-rounders Shoaib Malik has advised Babar Azam to quit captaincy to focus more on his batting prowess. In a post-match cricket show alongside Wasim Akram, Misbah-Ul-Haq, and Moin Khan, Shoaib Malik said that Babar Azam has been captain for 4 years now and he feels that he hasn’t improved much in terms of captaincy.

He further added that the burden of captaincy is taking a toll on his batting abilities and being relieved from captaincy duties would allow him to focus more on his batting. He also suggested that left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi will be better off as captain as he has been an aggressive captain for Lahore Qalandars in PSL.

Shoaib Malik on A Sports said, “Look, here is my honest opinion on this whole issue. I have already said in previous interviews that Babar should quit captaincy, though it’s my personal opinion but there’s a lot of homework behind it. Babar, as a player, can do wonders for himself as well as the team,".

"I think that Babar, as a leader, doesn't think out of the box. One shouldn't mix his leadership with his batting skills as they both are different. He has been a captain for a long time now, but he hasn't been able to improve himself. "Shaheen Afridi should become captain in white ball cricket in case Babar Azam resigns. He has done an attacking captaincy for Lahore Qalandars," the former all-rounder stated.

Why is Shaheen Afridi leading the race for captaincy?

Shaheen Shah Afridi is one of the most-loved cricketers in Pakistan after Babar Azam and what makes him the front-runner to lead the Pakistan team is his fantastic captaincy record in the PSL. He led Lahore Qalandars to their first-ever PSL title in 7 years that too in his first-ever captaincy stint. To add to it he went on to win the next edition of the PSL making him the first-ever captain in PSL history to successfully defend the title.

Thus given Babar’s poor form as captain both internationally and domestically and Shaheen Shah’s emphatic record in the PSL has again ignited the debate that who should lead the Pakistan team in the near future and Shoaib Malik’s recent comments have only added fuel to this fire.