Babar Azam-led Pakistan's T20 World Cup campaign came to a disappointing end as rain washed out their final group stage match against Ireland. This follows a wave of criticism directed towards captain Babar Azam. Former skipper Shahid Afridi publicly questioned Babar's decision to accept the captaincy role just before the tournament. This situation stems from a series of captaincy changes within the Pakistan team. Babar was initially removed from white-ball captaincy in December 2023 after Pakistan's underwhelming performance in the ODI World Cup. Shaheen Afridi was appointed as the new T20I captain. However, this decision was short-lived. Pakistan's poor showing against New Zealand in January and Shaheen's struggles as captain in the PSL led the PCB to reinstate Babar as captain just weeks before the T20 World Cup. This back-and-forth with leadership had many, including Afridi, questioning the team's direction.
In a YouTube video, Shahid Afridi expressed his views on Babar Azam's captaincy. He felt Babar should have rejected the captaincy offer from the PCB chairman, Moshin Naqvi, and instead shown his support for Shaheen Afridi. Afridi believed such an act would have been a powerful gesture.
However, Afridi acknowledged that the blame shouldn't fall solely on Babar. He pointed out that some selectors themselves had previously doubted Babar's leadership qualities after Pakistan's performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup. This highlights the confusion surrounding captaincy within the Pakistan team, which ultimately contributed to the criticism Babar faced.
“If the decision on Shaheen’s captaincy had been made and you [PCB] had stated that he will remain the captain till the [T20] World Cup, then I think Babar [Azam] should have supported Shaheen there and should have said that 'no, if you have made him [Shaheen] the captain, then we are ready to play under his captaincy because Shaheen has been playing with me for a long time. If he is made captain and the selection committee has made him the captain, then yes I will support him and play under his captaincy'. This is the stance Babar should’ve taken. Babar’s respect would’ve increased greatly that he has set an example with a remarkable decision," Afridi said.
"But this was not entirely the fault of Babar because some of the blame lies with the selection committee too since some of the selectors on record said that Babar doesn't know how to do captaincy," he added.
This marks a low point for Babar Azam's captaincy in T20 World Cups. Previously, he led Pakistan to the semifinals in 2021 and even the finals in 2022. However, this year's campaign has been a struggle. A shocking Super Over defeat to the USA was followed by a shaky chase against arch-rivals India, both resulting in losses. While they did secure a win against Canada, their final group stage match against Ireland on Sunday holds little consequence as their group-stage exit has already been confirmed.
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