Azhar commended Babar's batting, noting that his performance has been consistently strong throughout his tenure as captain
PHOTO: AFP
Former Pakistan cricketer Azhar Ali shared his thoughts on Babar Azam's performance and captaincy, focusing on his recent reinstatement as the team's captain across white-ball cricket.
In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Azhar commended Babar's batting, noting that his performance has been consistently strong throughout his tenure as captain.
"Babar's performance as a batsman has been good. He has consistently performed throughout his captaincy. If he couldn't perform well in the World Cup, it is okay. There have been some captains who have had similar experiences with poor performances in World Cups," Azhar said.
Azhar went on to express his belief that Babar does not have any major issues with his captaincy. However, he described the recent captaincy changes as far from ideal. He stated that neither removing Babar from his role as captain nor reappointing him was an ideal course of action.
"However, I don't think Babar has any issues with his captaincy. The whole captaincy episode wasn't ideal. Neither removing him was ideal, nor is reappointing him ideal. Now I hope the team supports him better and that there are no hard feelings from anyone," he further added.
It is worth noting that Babar stepped down from his captaincy across all formats following Pakistan's disappointing performance in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India last year. In response, Shaheen Shah Afridi was appointed as captain of the T20I team, while Shan Masood took over as the red-ball cricket captain.
However, Shaheen's leadership came under scrutiny after Pakistan managed to win only one out of five matches during his first series as captain against New Zealand. Eventually, Babar was reinstated as white-ball captain.
