“Babar Azam should quit the T20I captaincy”- Shahid Afridi

Babar Azam and his team ended the T20 World Cup 2022 as the runners-up after facing defeats at the hands of Jos Buttler’s England. However, Pakistan didn’t have a great start to the competition either. They lost to India in the first game, then faced a shocking defeat when Zimbabwe stunned them with a 1-run win. Despite reaching the finals. Without a doubt, their bowling was really good.

But one thing that didn’t work for them was the form of both reliable openers. Both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan failed badly in the entire tournament. Pakistan’s captain, in particular, appeared completely out of touch in the competition. He scored a total of 124 runs in seven innings, and that too at a strike rate below 100, which drew criticism from many former stars and cricket analysts.

“Babar Azam should quit the T20I captaincy” – Shahid Afridi

Many former Pakistani cricketers said that the captaincy burden has made Babar fail in big tournaments, while some pointed out the tactical errors done by him on the field as a captain. And now, former Pakistani skipper and legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi has come up with a bold statement and said that Babar should leave the T20I captaincy to focus more on his batting. In an interview on SAMAA TV, Afridi said,

“Babar Azam should quit the T20I captaincy and focus on his batting. We have other players who can lead the T20I team, like Shadab, Rizwan, and even Shan.”

However, Babar also failed in the Asia Cup 2022, where he scored only 64 runs in six games. Apart from Afridi, other former cricketers have also asked Babar to step down from the T20I captaincy. According to Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shan Masood are other candidates for the T20I captaincy role of Pakistan.