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Cricket PlayersShould Babar Azam be sacked as captain? Shahid Afridi delivers blunt verdict after Pakistan's 0-3 defeat to England
Pakistan's celebrated former all-rounder Shahid Afridi had a straightforward verdict on Babar Azam's captaincy future after the side's 0-3 Test series loss to England.
Babar Azam's captaincy has come under significant scanner after the side's crushing 0-3 clean sweep Test series defeat to England. In the final Test of the series in Karachi, England registered a dominant 8-wicket victory over the home side as they chased down a 170-run target in 28.1 overs. The Ben Stokes-led English team continued on its aggressive approach – more commonly known as the ‘Bazball’ – throughout the Pakistan series, proving their doubters wrong.
Babar, meanwhile, is facing the wrath of fans and former cricketers with many even suggesting the star batter to step down from captaincy. However, the 28-year-old batter found support from Pakistan's former cricketer and legendary all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who insisted that sacking Babar is not the solution to the side's troubles.
“This (replacing Babar as captain) is not the solution. The mindset of the captain needs to be changed. Management needs to change the mindset, they need to demand a certain style of cricket from the captain and his team. If you have to take the Pakistan team to the top, you need to change Babar's mindset. It's not only his mistake or responsibility. The management also has the responsibility, they are so much more senior. They need to make the players understand on the style of cricket they expect from them,” Afridi said on Samaa TV.
“So, if only Babar is being held responsible for this debacle, it would be very unfair,” the former Pakistan cricketer added.
Pakistan will return to action in the longest format of the game on December 26 when the side takes part in a two-Test series against New Zealand. In the World Test Championship table, Pakistan endured heavy loss in position as the side fell to seventh position with 38.89 percentage points (PP). England, meanwhile, are now fifth with 46.97 PP.
While Australia remain first, India are second (55.57).
