Srinagar: In a total U-Turn, former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Hafeez on Saturday said that Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam should be supported after having earlier termed him ‘Sacred Cow’.
Hafeez has been critical of Babar Azam and his captaincy. He has been lashing out at Babar Azam on various forms.However, on Saturday, when Hafeez was asked to make a comment on Babar’s form and captaincy, the former Pakistan captain took complete U-Turn and instead lashed out at the critics and urged the team management to show support towards star batter.
“Iske pehle usne kabhi domestic level main itni der captaincy nahi ki huyi thi. Usko yeh role mila and he is trying his level best. Galatiyan hum sabse hoti hain zindagi mein. But usko support karna iss tarah se zarurat hai ki jo management baithi huyi hai woh usse zarur support karein. Bahar baithke criticise karna toh bohot asaan hota hai but usse rectify ya dur karna ki zarurat hai. Babar ek shandaar player hai aur woh yeh duniya ki aise player hai jisko log dekhna chahate hai. Captaincy ko leke khamkha ka koi criticism nehi hona chaiye,” Hafeez Said.
“(He never led a side in domestic cricket for that long. He has been given this role and has been trying his level best. All he needs is support and the team management should provide that to him. It is easy to sit outside and criticise player. Babar is a fantastic player and people actually want to see him play)”.
Earlier speaking on Pakistan news channel after the Pakistan’s defeat to India in Melbourne, Hafeez had said, “Babar Azam’s captaincy is like a sacred cow that cannot be criticised. It’s the third consecutive big game that we are seeing flaws in Babar captaincy, but we keep hearing that by the time he gets to the age of 32 he will learn. In today’s match, from the 7th over till the 11th over, when India were struggling for even 4 runs an over, why did Babar not fulfil the spin quota overs in that time frame.”