Shoaib Malik advises Babar Azam to step down as captain, criticizes Pakistan's cricket culture

Shoaib Malik-Babar Azam (Source: Twitter)

Amid the debate over the leadership of the Pakistan cricket team, former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik feels that Babar Azam should voluntarily step down as the captain of the team. Malik opined that it would be unfair to put the 28-year-old's leadership and batting skills on the same scale. His remarks came amid mixed views about Babar's leadership qualities.

"Babar Azam is a great batter but we do injustice by putting his leadership qualities and batting ability on the same scale," Malik said while speaking on a TV sports channel.

The all-rounder stated that 20 to 25 years ago, one player could win a match with his individual performance, but today, four to five performing players are required in the team for victory. He added that it is a culture in Pakistan to expect immediate results.

When advised to resign as captain, the 41-year-old said it would help Babar break more records in international cricket and achieve more success for the Pakistan cricket team.

"Babar Azam should resign from captaincy which will benefit Pakistan Cricket Team as well. This will help him make more records on an international level as the pressure on him will be limited to his batting," he said.

Our culture doesn't give time to players: Malik

Malik said that if he was in Babar's place, he would have given up his leadership role and concentrated on batting. He also noted that the national team captaincy still needed to be improved and that it would take a long time to mature. "He still needs a lot of time to improve as a captain but our culture doesn't give time to players," he added.

When the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Shadab Khan as stand-in captain for the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan last month, there were rumours that Babar might lose the captaincy in at least one format.

However, the board's Management Committee Chairman Najam Sethi clarified that Babar Azam will continue his duties in all formats. "For now, we have retained Babar as a captain because he is our main player. His captaincy is often discussed in media, we have nothing to do with it," the PCB head said.