The former Pakistani batsman Basit Ali has paved the way for new debate, with his latest comments pointing out that Babar Azam should step down as a captain from limited overs cricket to concentrate on his batting.
According to the 53-year-old- ex-cricketer, Babar struggled in his most recent matches to maintain his impressive batting skills and faced huge setbacks as a captain during the latest ICC tournaments. Also, during the Asia Cup 2023, Babar Azam scored his last century against Nepal.
As the Pakistan national cricket team is set to face a busy international schedule till April 2025, Basit Ali suggests that Babar Azam could regain his form as a top batter only if he resigns from captaincy. Meanwhile, Basit gave crucial advice to Shan Masood by criticizing Pakistan’s talkative culture of making bold promises without delivering proper outcomes.
Basit Ali’s About Babar Azam: Advices a Change in Captaincy for Pakistan Team
At present, Pakistan is getting ready to play the two-match home series against Bangladesh and Basit feels that it is an important moment for Babar Azam to prove his talent. At the same time, he strongly advised that Babar should get relieved from the pressure by stepping down as the limited overs captain to maintain his concentration on batting.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube Channel, here’s what Basit said: “It’s a fact to be known! Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s last hundred was scored against Nepal in the previous year’s Asia Cup. However, the forthcoming series is a golden opportunity for him to prove his best skills and bounce back to the upper position in the test cricket rankings. One good thing to be appreciated is that he (Babar Azam) is no longer the captain of the red ball cricket. Similarly, he should give up his captaincy in white-ball cricket to dedicate his efforts completely to his batting skills. Since he is one of the premier batters for Pakistan, he should always be in his best form,” Basit Ali said.
Basit Ali’s Suggestion to Shan Masood: Proceed with Bold Decisions in Test Cricket
Furthermore, offers important guidance to the Pakistan test skipper Shan Masood to make bold decisions for the team’s success:
“Certainly! We have observed a lot of talkative cricket in the last 2 to 3 years, with the dreams of winning the World Cup and Asia Cup. Also, we had hopes that we would reach the finals in India. But, the time has come to deliver a perfect result. The new test captain Shan Masood should proceed with bold decisions that lead to the benefit of the Pakistan cricket team. One thing you should know is that leadership skills should be about bravery and courage, and not only favoritism.
He (Shan Masood) shouldn’t believe that a player gets special preference just because they are a top-quality batter or bowler. He should make decisions without fear, so that Pakistan cricket team will improve and perform better” the 53-year-old former Pakistani cricketer added.
Babar Azam’s Performance as a Captain and Batsman in ICC Tournaments
Babar Azam as a white ball captain, faced back-to-back failures in recent ICC tournaments. Under his captaincy, Pakistan failed to qualify for the knockouts of the ICC World Cup 2023 and Babar Azam with the bat was able to score just 320 runs in 9 innings, which included 4 half-centuries. Later, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Shan Masood as the test skipper and Shaheen Shah Afridi as T20 captain by sacking Babar Azam from all formats of captaincy.
Despite Babar Azam getting another chance as a white-ball captain by replacing Shaheen Afridi, the Pakistan team faced an early elimination in the group stages of the T20 World Cup 2024. The two consecutive losses against the USA and India resulted the men in green’s failure to qualify for the Super Eights of the tournament. Babar was able to score only 122 runs in 4 matches, which includes his highest score of 44 runs, and received severe criticism for his slow batting approach in T20 format.
Conclusion:
Although Babar Azam hasn’t responded to Basit Ali’s comments, the latest reports suggest that he could step down as a white ball captain in the upcoming matches of his career. If Babar considers Basit’s advice, it could become a crucial turning point in his career and lead to a strong comeback in his batting form.
However, Basit Ali’s call for Babar Azam to resign from the limited-overs captaincy has fueled the debate, thereby pointing out the failure of leadership and lackluster performance in Pakistan cricket.
Finally, the cricketing world is eager to witness the decisions made by Babar Azam in the coming days to shape the future of the Pakistan cricket team at the international level.