Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi suggested Babar Azam leave the T20I captaincy in order to focus on his batting after the current skipper had a poor campaign with the bat at the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
Pakistan might have finished as the runners-up of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, but Babar’s performance with the bat was not up to the mark, as the star batter could only muster 124 runs in the tournament.
Following his poor outing, many have been suggesting that Babar should quit at least one format’s captaincy, and now the legendary all-rounder has joined the long list.
He urged the all-format captain of the Pakistan cricket team to step down as T20I captain, as the Men in Green have other players like Shahab Khan and Mohammad Rizwan who can lead the side in the format.
Shahid Afridi said on SAMAA TV, “Babar was not happy with the management at Karachi Kings as it is. I feel he should take a tough call and quit captaincy in T20 cricket. He should focus on his batting and lead the team in Tests and one-dayers.”
He signed off by saying, “I respect Babar a lot and that's why I don't want him to take the pressure of captaincy in T20 cricket. I want him to focus on his captaincy in longer formats. You do have players like Shadab, Rizwan and even Shan Masood who can lead the team in the T20 format.”
Notably, Pakistan missed out on a chance to lift the T20 World Cup 2022 trophy after suffering a five-wicket loss to England in the final at the MCG on November 13.
