Former Indian cricketer supports Babar Azam's leadership despite T20 World Cup failure

Former Indian cricketer and coach Sanjay Bangar has recently expressed his support for Babar Azam, Pakistan's cricket captain, following the team's disappointing performance and early exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup currently being co-hosted by the USA and West Indies. 

In a recent interview with a local sports platform, Bangar emphasized that Babar remains the best choice to lead Pakistan and suggested areas for improvement to enhance his captaincy.

The former coach also highlighted the need for Babar Azam to be more assertive, especially in utilizing the Decision Review System (DRS) and making decisive leadership decisions.

"I still believe he is still the best man to lead Pakistan. He has to be a little bit more assertive in terms of the usage of the DRS as well. You can gauge your personality. It seems that he is letting others come into his way of decision-making. So, as a captain, you have to be decisive. That’s a quality that can be slightly more assertive. That can help his decision-making," Bangar said.

Reflecting on Pakistan's past attempts to replace the 29-year-old as the national teams' skipper, Bangar pointed out the lack of viable alternatives, indicating Babar's importance as a leader for the team. 

He urged Pakistan to provide Babar with a strong support system to help him lead the team effectively and achieve success in future tournaments.

"There is no alternative as well, because Pakistan tried to do away with his captaincy after the 50-over World Cup debacle. But they had to go back to him again. It clearly shows that there are not a lot of potential captaincy candidates. So stick with Babar, give him the team, give him a good support system around him so that Pakistan can do well in the next World Cup," he said.

It is worth noting that the Babar-led Pakistan experienced a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign as they were eliminated from the tournament without reaching the super eight round. Led by Babar Azam, the team was placed in Group A alongside India, USA, Canada, and Ireland.

They suffered consecutive defeats at the hands of the co-hosts USA and their arch-rivals India. However, they managed to win their last two group matches against Canada and Ireland, concluding their tournament with two wins and two losses, earning a total of four points.