Former Captain Shahid Afridi has raised Questions about the Pakistan Cricket Board’s roping of Babar Azam despite consecutive failures as captain.
Shahid Afridi Questions PCB on Backing Babar Azam Captaincy
Afridi has pointed out Babar Azam’s struggle to produce significant results in major tournaments in the recent past. He has questioned PCB’s longing to keep Babar as captain and lashed out at the change in players, support staff, and selectors, urging the board to maintain consistency in the set-up.
He spoke about the issue in an on-field interview on the sidelines of his stint in the World Championship of Legends in England. Shahid Afridi added that not many former captains, including himself, were lucky to get an extended stay as the captain.
“They should decide on the captain or the coach and then give them time. As far as Babar is concerned. I have captained, Younis (Khan), and Misbah have captained a lot. A captain never got so many chances.”
“As soon as the World Cup is over, often the captain used to be the first one who got the blame. Babar has led in two three World Cups, two three Asia Cups, and T20 World Cups, he has had enough opportunities. If you want to keep Babarâ€æ In my opinion, a lot of things have been done. If you bring in someone new, give him chances,” Shahid Afridi said.
His comments came after the Pakistan Cricket Board forced Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razaq from the selection committee after Pakistan’s T20 World Cup failure in the USA.
Afridi also showed displeasure after PCB sacked Razzaq and Wahab from the selection committee. “I got to know that only Abdul Razzaq and Wahab Riaz have been sacked from the selection committee. I don’t understand this surgery. If the selection committee is of 6-7 people then why only these two have been removed?” Afridi added.
Babar Azam has stepped down as captain in all three formats after Pakistan failed in the ODI World Cup in India last year. Shaheen Afridi has been handed T20I captaincy, but the left-arm bowler was sacked after just one series against New Zealand. After Naqvi named took over the board, Babar was reappointed as captain.
Babar Azam has been criticized after Pakistan’s group-stage exit in the T20 World Cup. They suffered back-to-back defeats against India and USA in the early stage of the tournament.
