"He should stay away from leadership" Shoaib Malik on Babar Azam's captaincy struggles in international cricket

Shoaib Malik also opined on who should replace Babar Azam as Pakistan’s white-ball captain.

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik feels that Babar Azam should step down as T20I captain of the Pakistan cricket team and should now focus solely on contributing as a batter.

Under the leadership of Babar Azam, the Pakistan cricket team are yet to win an ICC title. Azam was relinquished from his leadership responsibilities following his team’s disappointing performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.

After that, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) handed the T20I captaincy to Shaheen Afridi and the test captaincy to Shan Masood. However, on March 31, 2024, after a series loss in New Zealand, PCB sacked Afridi and re-appointed Babar as their T20I captain, a decision that received huge backlash from many cricket pundits.

The Babar-led Pakistan had a poor show in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The Men In Green suffered a group-stage exit after suffering close defeats at the hands of India and co-hosts the United States of America.

Babar should leave captaincy and play as a player: Shoaib Malik

Across all formats, Babar has captained the Pakistan cricket team in 148 matches till now. Under him, the Men in Green have won 84 matches and lost 50 games. They reached the semi-final and final of the T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022 respectively, but couldn’t clinch the title.

Former all-rounder Shoaib Malik feels that Babar’s struggle in international cricket is just a phase and it would be better for him if he moves away from captaincy.

“Ups and downs are a part of life, especially when you are a cricketer from the subcontinent. He needs to stay strong during this time. As for his captaincy, my firm stance is that he should play only as a player. That’s my opinion. When he plays as a player, he can do wonders for the team. But in my opinion, he should stay away from leadership,” Malik said in an interview with Cricket Pakistan.

Shoaib claimed that left-handed batter Fakhar Zaman should be considered for the white-ball captaincy role after Babar. Shoaib believes Fakhar has a good sense and leadership qualities for modern-day cricket.

“According to today’s fearless cricket, Fakhar Zaman should be considered for white ball captaincy because he has the sense and leadership capacity for it,” Shoaib added.

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