Michael Atherton grills Babar Azam after England whitewash Pakistan in Tests: ‘Are you committed as captain?’

Michael Atherton posed tough questions in front of Babar Azam after Pakistan were whitewashed by England in the three-match Test series.

Pakistan's agonising tour of England came to an end on Saturday, with the visitors losing the third and final Test by eight wickets at Edgbaston in Birmingham, and were thus whitewashed in the three-match series. Nothing went right for the Babar Azam-led side on the tour, which also saw the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) replacing seven players and two coaches after the drubbing at Lord's. Ahead of the final match in Birmingham, Babar himself admitted that he wasn't consulted in sending seven players back, including Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha.

Michael Atherton grills Babar Azam after England whitewash Pakistan (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

The third and final Test, however, saw Pakistan showing some sort of fight, and the final innings saw Pakistan breaching the 200-run mark for the first time in the series, scoring 449. Razaullah was the star of the show on debut, smashing 81 runs, including nine sixes. England were set a target of 130, and Mohammad Abbas removed Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay in the opening over, but Joe Root and Jordon Cox ensured that England cruised home in the first session of Day 4.

After the series defeat, Babar was grilled by former England captain Michael Atherton, who didn't mince his words, asking Babar whether he remains committed to leading Pakistan in the longest format and helping in changing the fortunes around.

Here's how the conversation went between Atherton and Babar:

Atherton: And you, as captain, are you committed to that?

Babar: When you enter a new series, you always try to do your best. You have to decide what type of cricket you want to play in different conditions.

How did this topic come about?

Before asking the captaincy question, Babar was reminded that Pakistan are at the bottom of the World Test Championship (WTC) standings and that their fate was the same in the previous cycle.

Atherton then asked Babar what Pakistan needed to do differently to change their fortunes. Answering the question, the 31-year-old refrained from going into detail, just speaking about the importance of choosing the right playing XI.

“We need to sit down and correct our mistakes. We need to decide on the playing XI. The coach, the selectors and the head coach need to decide the perfect playing XI,” said Babar.

Speaking of the series, Babar had missed the series opener but made a return to the lineup for the next Test at Lord's, where he recorded scores of 8 and 6. The right-hander once failed in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test, scoring 7 before falling to Josh Tongue.

However, he came into his groove in the final innings, scoring 76. However, he failed to get a century after falling to a short delivery bowled by Josh Tongue. Babar's last ton in Tests came way back in December 2022, and he has gone 40 innings without breaching the three-figure mark.