Shoaib Akhtar throws weight behind Hasan Ali as Pakistan captain

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar believes that pacer Hasan Ali would have been a better choice as captain of the Men in Green, instead of current skipper Babar Azam.

While speaking on PTV Sports, after Pakistan’s ODI series loss against England, Akhtar said that he would have focused more on making Babar a great batsman rather than giving him the burden of captaincy.

“I would have played him [Babar Azam] as a batsman. If I had to select a captain from this team, it would have been Hasan Ali as he has the spark and intelligence. My approach is completely different, I would have made Babar a great batsman and put pressure on him to play a certain type of innings so that the entire Pakistan team plays around him,” said Akhtar.

“I would have compared these Pakistan players with the likes of Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Ben Stokes and encourage them to become better than these players. I would have taken Babar Azam towards that but unfortunately we have a very sad scenario right now. Pakistan have lost the series and it’s very disappointing. Thankfully, there were no Test matches as they would have ended inside two days,” he added.

He also took a dig at Pakistan’s approach towards modern-day cricket.

“England are playing a different brand of cricket, whereas Pakistan are stuck in the 1970s. We are playing cricket of the black and white days, meanwhile other teams have gone far ahead of us,” he concluded.

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England's second-string side beat Pakistan by 52 runs in the second one-day international at Lord's on Saturday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Chasing 248 for victory in a match reduced to 47 overs a side after rain delayed the start, Pakistan were bowled out for 195 in 41 overs.