'Babar Azam could not prove himself as a good leader': Ex-cricketers slam Pakistan captain for World Cup woes

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has come under fire after the Men in Green failed to qualify for the 2023 Cricket World Cup semi-finals. Pakistan finished fifth in the 10-team group stage with eight points and five defeats from nine matches. Babar Azam and Co arrived in Pakistan on Monday after their dismal campaign and the captain has become a target for a number of legends of the game in the country.

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Former Pakistan captains and players like Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq said it’s time for Babar to step down from the post of captaincy as he failed to deliver despite being the leader for a while.

Afridi blasted Babar for his mistakes during the World Cup and added that the batter failed to prove himself a good leader.

“I’m a fan of Babar. Babar is a big player, for me he is like a younger brother. I wanted that Babar join the list of top captains in the world. He’s been captain since four years or so, there was never a sword hanging over his head. We all supported him during this phase. We thought in three-four years he would be well groomed to handle the responsibility as a captain. He would mold himself as a captain. But this didn’t happen. He could not improve in this period and could not prove himself as a good leader. We have seen plenty of errors during the World Cup,” Afridi said on Monday.

Malik also said that Babar had his chances to prove his worth but he failed.

“I am not against Babar but he has to decide after looking at his performances as a player and captain whether he can continue to take the pressure of both,” Malik said. “I think we need Babar more as a player. As a captain, he has got his chances to show his worth. Unfortunately, he didn’t come through,” he added.

Razzaq highlighted that Babar made mistakes as a captain that impacted Pakistan’s performance.

“I have always said this, if you are honest and sincere in your decisions as captain, things will work out accordingly. Unfortunately, he has made some wrong calls and that is the reason for our poor performance in the World Cup,” Razzaq said.

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Kamran Akmal added that being the main batter of the side and the captain as well is not easy for a player.

“He has to make up his mind. What the Pakistan Cricket Board decides is something different. But he has to realise that captaining the team and being the main batsman is not everyone’s cup of tea. I think we need to have separate captains for red and white-ball formats,” he said.

Babar also received some support from former players,

Batting great Younis Khan said that Pakistan needs some fine-tuning and are a much better side than how they performed in the World Cup.

“I don’t think there is a need for any massive changes; just a little fine-tuning and shuffling is required. And, yes, we have to work on finding one or two quality spinners. But this is not a bad team, and its performance in the World Cup is not a reflection of its worth,” he said.

Former captain Rashid Latif blamed the PCB chairman for the team’s performance.

“It happened in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Why should only the captain be changed? What about the board chairman? Does he not have any responsibility? First, the PCB has to put its house in order, then look at the team issues. I still say we didn’t play well in the World Cup, but if we have two good spinners, this same team will perform differently,” he said.