Srinagar: Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has said that Babar Azam hss not evolved as captain despite being in charge for the four years.
Malil said this in the backdrop of Pakistan’s defeat to the United States (USA) in the T20 World Cup 2024 in New York on Thursday.
“This captaincy talk, I would like to go into its depth. You [Babar] have set a blockage in your mind, that is the problem. If you have decided that Shadab [Khan] has to bat at a certain number, and Azam [Khan] and Iftikhar [Ahmed] have to bat in the last overs, and you do that exactly, these are the blockages,” said Malik.
“The most important thing which needs to be fixed is that Babar’s captaincy from four years ago and now, I cannot see any difference. If someone is improving then you give them time because the results will be seen in the long run but in Babar’s case, as a leader, he is still where he was four years ago.”
Bazid Khan, who was sitting next to Malik, concurred with the all-rounder’s views on Babar Azam.
“When you are in the team and you do captaincy for years, you improve. I will talk about Wasim Akram, when he became Pakistan’s captain at first he wasn’t that good of a captain but he developed and by the time [he retired] he was one of the best captains in Pakistan’s history. If you look at Babar’s captaincy, it has been time but he has not evolved. He is a world-class batter, no doubt about that, but we are talking about his captaincy,” Bazid said.