Babar Azam has come under the scanner after Pakistan’s two successive last-ball defeats in the ongoing T20 World Cup Down Under.
While the Men in Green suffered a four-wicket defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India in their tournament opener at MCG, they copped a narrow 1-run loss in the second Super 12 fixture against Zimbabwe at Perth
As a batter, Babar failed to step up to the plate in both games. While the Pakistan skipper bagged a first-ball duck against India, he scored 4 off 9 balls in the match versus Zimbabwe.
After the Zimbabwe defeat, former Pakistan cricketers Younis Khan and Kamran Akmal urged Babar Azam to quit captaincy after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in Australia.
"If he considers me an elder brother, Babar Azam should quit captaincy after this World Cup. If you want him to score 25,000 runs or 22,000 runs, he should only play as a player. Otherwise, he will come under extreme pressure and his performance will go down.
"If Babar or my uncle understands this, the former should step down as captain. He should focus on his game like Virat Kohli has. He should play for long, as after him, we aren't able to see a batsman as solid as him," said Akmal while speaking on ARY News.
According to Kamran Akmal, Babar Azam might not be able to continue his performances as a batter for long period if he remains the captain.
"If you want him to be the captain of the team, Pakistan cricket will have to bear a big loss as he might not be around for too long (as a batter)," the former wicketkeeper opined.
Sharing his two cents on the topic, Younis Khan said that Babar doesn't have the spark in his captaincy.
"We have been talking about Babar Azam's captaincy for long. If you repeat the same mistake, it becomes your habit, maybe you can't focus. If we talk about Babar, he is a top batsman and is a good person who is down to Earth. Leadership qualities aren't there in everyone. Like Kamran Akmal said, there's no spark in his captaincy.
"Leading a club side is a different thing but when you are captaining a nation, you need to be a leader, you need to come out of your skin," Younis said.
Pakistan will next face Netherlands at Perth on Sunday (October 30).
