Babar Azam needs to improve his body language as captain: Kamran Akmal

Wicketkeeper-batsman, Kamran Akmal, believes Pakistan captain Babar Azam should try to emulate former South Africa captain, Graeme Smith, in a bid to improve his leadership skills.

While talking to media on Sunday in Lahore, Kamran praised Babar’s batting but insisted there is room for improvement in his captaincy.

“Babar Azam is a great batter but there are still question marks over his captaincy. He should be more confident as captain while also improving his body language. He has been captain for three years and it is time to deliver,” said Akmal.

“It is a World Cup year which is why he should be more aggressive as captain. Graeme Smith was also young when he was made captain. I think Babar should take a leaf out of Smith’s book,” he added.

Smith was only 22 years old, when he was appointed captain of South Africa in Test and ODIs, after Proteas disastrous campaign in 2003 World Cup at home.

Last year, after Pakistan’s team loss against Zimbabwe in 2022 T20 World Cup, Akmal, who is also the cousin of Babar, had also asked him to quit captaincy after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in Australia. Pakistan had a turnaround of fortunes after the aforementioned matches and went onto play the final of the tournament against eventual winners, England.