Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar heavily criticised the decision of Babar Azam’s reappointment as the white-ball captain following the national team’s early exit from the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Pakistan, in a first, were knocked out of the T20 World Cup in the group stage after a crucial Group A fixture between the co-host United States of America (USA) and Ireland was abandoned here without a ball bowled.
The Green Shirts had a disastrous start to their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign as they suffered a shock loss against the USA in the Super Over.
Pakistan then succumbed to a frustrating six-run defeat against arch-rivals India at a jam-packed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 9.
The back-to-back defeats put Pakistan on the verge of an early exit from the tournament.
The former champions then finally got on the winning track when they registered a hard-fought seven-wicket victory over Canada.
Pakistan then edged past Ireland in another stiff challenge to bow out of the T20 World Cup 2024 with a win.
The 2009 champions finished third in Group A standings with four points in four matches.
Questions have been asked about continuing with Babar Azam as the T201 captain after Pakistan’s embarrassing ouster.
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Speaking on national television, Shoaib Akhtar questioned the decision to reinstate Babar Azam as the captain and claimed that the former top-ranked batter is not fit for the role.
“Who made Babar Azam the captain in the first place? Who was the Einstein? I need to know that guy. Does he qualify for this job? Does he even know anything about captaincy? I’ve been saying that Babar Azam is not a captain material,” Akhtar said.
Akhtar then claimed that Babar needs to finish games for Pakistan in order to retain his place in the T20I and ODI sides.
“What’s going to happen to Babar now? He is now going to come down at number 4. He has to finish the games. He has to win the games, if he doesn’t, he won’t be able to keep his place in T20I. I am telling you right now. He won’t be able to find his place in ODIs if he can’t finish,” stated Akhtar.
“The finisher Babar has to come out again. That’s when the character comes out. He needs to get in that kind of a position. I am bluntly telling this to Babar, you need to remain a superstar. Get to know how to finish games,” he concluded.
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