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'Babar Azam doesn’t have cricketing sense': Former PAK spinner's explosive criticism of skipper, 'Failed as captain
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has come under criticism for his own personal form and his team's performances in recent Test matches that they played against England and New Zealand at home.
Pakistan's recently concluded home Test season has been a bit of a disaster. They failed to win the three series they hosted against Australia, England and New Zealand, losing two of those and drawing against the latter. Apart from the pitches provided little assistance to the bowlers, the hosts' lack of depth in fast bowling reserves was also exposed with the injured Shaheen Afridi's absence hurting them the most.
It led to opposition sides scoring over 400 runs regularly and Pakistan lost their series to England and Australia. They were whitewashed by England, making them the first ever team to have done so at their home. They also went on a stunning run of four Test defeats at home with that loss and they finally managed to stop that trend when they drew the two matches against New Zealand.
The string of poor results have put pressure on Babar Azam as a captain but as a batter, he has managed to score two centuries and three half centuries in the series against England and New Zealand. However, former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria said that he felt Babar “doesn't have cricketing sense” judging by the way he was dismissed on the fifth day of Pakistan's second Test against New Zealand on Friday.
"I think Babar Azam doesn’t have the cricketing sense. He got out while playing on the back foot, which he should have swept. Luckily, Pakistan didn’t lose the series. Local boys Sarfaraz and Shakeel saved the team,” said Kaneria on his Youtube channel
“So-called world-class batter Babar Azam failed. Against off-spinners, he doesn’t have sweep shots and is unable to take charge. He failed to deliver when Pakistan needed him the most. He failed as a captain and batsman in the series,” he said.
Sarfaraz Ahmed, who played his first Test match in more than three years in the first Test against New Zealand, nearly led Pakistan to an improbable win on Friday. Kaneria said that Sarfaraz, who was captain of the team between 2017 and 2019, should be made skipper once again.
“You have to give Test captaincy to Sarfaraz. He can be a very good option for captaincy and Saud Shakeel for vice-captaincy, who has started to play for Pakistan recently but has the potential to lead Pakistan in the future,” said Kaneria.
