Former Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Rashid Latif backs Babar Azam and says “Whatever is happening to Babar right now, the same thing happened to Sarfaraz a few years ago”.
Rashid Latif Backs Babar Azam
Pakistan captain Babar Azam faced lots of criticism over his captaincy for not being able to register a Test victory at home last year, but Salman Butt backs Babar Azam over his failures.
Notably, Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria suggests that Babar shouldn’t be compared to Virat Kohli. Kaneria also termed Babar “a big zero” when it comes to captaincy.
Though he received mixed comments over his captaincy, Babar took out both the major men’s cricket award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, as well as the Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in the ICC Awards 2022, beating competitive fields in both categories.
While speaking on his YouTube channel, Latif said that there is no player in the current national team who matches the calibre of Babar and there is no threat to his captaincy.
“Whatever is happening to Babar right now, the same thing happened to Sarfaraz a few years ago. That was a big mistake and we raised our voices against that. It was a very bad move. We still haven’t recovered from that,” Latif said.
“If you think you can do a reset after removing Babar from captaincy… you said that the players are complaining (about Babar). There’s no one who can stand in front of him right now,” he added.
Earlier, Babar Azam’s Private Videos leaked on social media and created a bustle in the Pakistan Cricket Board. The former wicketkeeper also emphasised that Pakistan lacks competent alternatives to replace the current skipper.
“You tell me the options. How much does Shadab (Khan) play? He misses 50 per cent of matches due to injury. He is not an option. If Shadab is available throughout, I would’ve said to myself that Babar can step down. Shaheen (Afridi) is out of injury as well. There’s only one guy who plays all the matches,” he concluded.
Babar Azam will be seen in action in the upcoming PSL 2023 where he will captain the Peshawar Zalmi. As per PSL 2023 schedule, Peshawar Zalmi will play their first match of the season against Karachi Kings on February 14 at National Stadium, Karachi.
