Pakistan skipper Babar Azam took over captaincy limited-overs captaincy from Sarfaraz Ahmed in 2019 when the latter was sacked by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). While Azam has had a good run with the bat, under his captaincy, Pakistan have not won a major tournament yet. Their best result came last year when they reached the T20 World Cup 2022 final in Australia only to be beaten by Jos Buttler’s England. In the Test format, Pakistan have not been able to reach World Test Championship (WTC) final yet. While many have questioned Azam’s decision as a captain, Shoaib Malik wants him to step down from the role and focus on his batting.
“If I was in Babar’s place, or those people who guide him, they should tell him that Babar should quit captaincy. And focus just as a player. Pakistan team will also benefit from this,” Malik told Geo Sports.
Malik wants Azam to achieve personal milestones in international cricket. He also criticised people for judging his captaincy on the basis of his batting.
"Babar Azam is a great batter but we do injustice by putting his leadership qualities and batting ability on the same scale. This will help (stepping down from the role) Babar Azam make more records on an international level as the pressure on him will be limited to his batting,” the 41-year-old added.
Babar’s captaincy record
Babar has led Pakistan in 18 Tests, 21 ODIs and 70 T20Is. He has a 65.62 winning percentage in T20Is and 64.28 in ODIs. In Test cricket, the win percentage has dropped to 44.44. However, it is still the best since Misbah-ul-Haq stepped down from the role.
Criticism of strike rate
Recently, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull questioned Azam’s intent during Pakistan Super League (PSL). In the international arena, Azam answered the critics with an unbeaten 101 against New Zealand in a winning cause. However, in the other two games he got out for a single-digit score.
With T20I series on the line, he will lead Pakistan in the fifth T20I against Tom Latham-led Kiwi side at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on April 24.
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