Imad Wasim reveals he was ‘surprised’ to see Babar Azam as captain again

Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim recalled getting ‘surprised’ when Babar Azam was reinstated as the white-ball captain ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, earlier this year.

Imad Wasim, along with pacer Mohammad Amir, came out of retirement ahead of the mega-event. However, his performance in the tournament was underwhelming, as he managed only three wickets and 19 runs throughout Pakistan’s campaign.

According to an interview quoted by Hindustan Times, Imad Wasim said: “Yes, I was surprised, what can I say, it’s ultimately the selector’s call.”

“Whatever they thought was the best option, they picked and they picked the team [accordingly].

“Everybody in Pakistan was surprised, not just me. So, I can’t say no that I was not surprised.”

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For the unversed, Babar Azam has been under fire following Pakistan’s lacklustre ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, where they got knocked out from the group stage.

Many fans and critics have attributed the Green Shirts’ disastrous performance to Babar’s captaincy and called for his removal as captain.

The right-handed batter previously relinquished captaincy in all formats after the team’s group-stage exit from the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in India.

Shan Masood was named Test captain whereas pacer Shaheen Afridi was named T20I captain. However, Babar was reinstated as the white-ball skipper for the series against England and Ireland leading up to the T20 World Cup.

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