Former captain of the Pakistan cricket team, Shoaib Malik, has offered advice to current captain Babar Azam, suggesting that he should relinquish the captaincy and focus on playing as a pure cricketer.
Speaking to A Sports after the recent Pakistan-India match in Ahmedabad, Shoaib Malik expressed his views on the team’s performance. He stated that losing one match doesn’t spell the end of the world for the Pakistan cricket team.
Shoaib Malik emphasized that this is the time for the Pakistan cricket team to learn from the loss and strive to move forward. He believes that they should wake up and recognize that there are still 15 matches to go in the tournament, and their performance will be crucial.
In response to a question, Shoaib suggested that Babar Azam should step down from the captaincy and play as a pure cricketer. He clarified that he had expressed this opinion not because they lost the match but because he had mentioned it in an earlier interview.
The former captain stated that Babar is fully capable of contributing significantly as a player and a leader. He believes that Babar doesn’t think about himself when he is leading; he thinks about the team.
Shoaib Malik further explained that personal performance and leadership should not always be intertwined. While Babar Azam is a top performer in the world, his leadership as captain has not yielded the desired results.