England's Michael Vaughan is calling for a shake-up in Pakistan's leadership following their rough start to the T20 World Cup. Vaughan believes the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should reinstate Shaheen Shah Afridi, a left-arm pacer, as the team's captain.
Pakistan's campaign got off on the wrong foot with losses to both the USA and India. They did manage to get back on track with a win over Canada, but their qualification for the Super 8 stage still hangs in the balance. Their final group match against Ireland is crucial, and they'll also need a favorable outcome in the USA's remaining matches to progress based on net run rate.
During his appearance on the Club Prairie Fire podcast, Michael Vaughan proposed that Shaheen Shah Afridi should be reinstated as the team captain. Vaughan argued that Pakistan should dismiss Babar Azam during a match, noting that Pakistan tends to make such dramatic changes in leadership.
"I think they need to go back to Shaheen (as captain). Clearly, they are a better team when they're juggling the captaincy around a bit. If there was ever a team in the history of cricket to do that kind of a thing (sacking captain) mid-match, Pakistan are favorites to deliver that kind of sacking," Vaughan said.
Following Pakistan's underwhelming performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup under Babar Azam's captaincy, the team underwent a shake-up. Babar stepped down as leader across all formats, paving the way for Shaheen Afridi. Shaheen's tenure began with a five-match T20I series in New Zealand.
However, a change in leadership within the Pakistan Cricket Board brought about another shift. Babar was reappointed as captain for the white-ball formats, which include T20Is. Unfortunately, his return hasn't been smooth sailing. The team drew their recent five-match T20I series against New Zealand at home and even faced a defeat in the subsequent four-match T20I series against England.
Veteran cricketer Michael Vaughan weighed in on Pakistan's recent struggles against India. He believes a mental block might be hindering their performance. Vaughan pointed to their failure to chase down a modest target of 120 against India, suggesting a lack of confidence in their ability to win these high-pressure encounters.
"Pakistan just cannot beat India. They are chasing 120. It was an iffy pitch. Probably it did more when India were batting. It was a more of a sticky-stoppy motion when India were batting. When Pakistan were batting, actually the pitch played okay and they still couldn't get 120. My fundamental summary is Pakistan do not believe they can beat India," Vaughan concluded.
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