Babar Azam, currently leading the Pakistan cricket team in limited overs, took charge of the Pakistan cricket team in T20s in November 2019 after Sarfaraz Ahmed was sacked from the captaincy. Later, he was given the Test captaincy in November 2020; he also became captain of the Pakistan cricket team’s ODI side in May 2021
Pakistan cricket team and Babar’s failure in Asia Cup 2023:
Despite winning remarkable matches like a 10-wicket victory over India in World T20 Cup 2022, a sudden pause stopped the series of achievements for the Pakistan cricket team and Babar as a captain. In Asia Cup 2023, the Pakistan cricket team was badly smashed by Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, and also lost to India by 228 runs; that’s a humiliating loss.
Rather than leading from the front as a captain in a match against India, Babar failed to fulfill the fans’ expectations and got out after scoring 10 runs off 24 deliveries. Typically one bad tournament ends a player’s s captaincy career in Pakistan, the same happened in the case of Shahid Afridi and Sarfaraz Ahmed. However, in Babar’s case, PCB has different strategies.
After Babar’s poor performance in Asia Cup 2023, the Pakistan Cricket Board removed him from the captaincy and gave the charge to Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Appointment of Babar Azam as a captain again:
Despite a continuous streak of poor performances, Babar Azam was again allowed to lead the Pakistan cricket team in limited overs. And from here, the humiliating streak of losses extended. Babar got a chance to lead the Pakistan cricket team in multiple big tournaments. But he failed to prove himself as a good captain.
Pakistan Cricket Board recently made it clear that Babar Azam will continue leading Pakistan in white ball till the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. It is obvious that PCB is again trusting Babar Azam to give him another chance to lead the Pakistan Cricket Team in the important tournament even after seeing the results of Babar Azam’s poor captaincy PCB’s support for him is ridiculous. Babar Azam’s continuous failures as a captain clearly state that he lacks leadership qualities.
“I had already said when PCB made Babar Azam captain of all three formats that it was not the right decision. He has no leadership qualities” Said Intikhab Alam.
Never-ending failures streak:
Pakistan cricket team faced continuous failures in the long format, losing series to England and Australia that were part of the World Test Championship. The series of humiliations that started in Asia Cup 2023 didn’t stop and continued resulting in several heartbreaks for Pakistan cricket fans.
Once again Babar’s captaincy skills failed to lead Pakistan according to the expectations in ICC Cricket World Cup 2024 and ICC T20 World Cup as well. Pakistan lost to Afghanistan in ICC CWC 2024, which was a huge upset for Pakistan cricket. Not only this, but in the WT20 Cup also Pakistan lost to the USA who were playing a cricket tournament for the very first time. Suffering an early exit in the tournament.
Also see, Pakistan Team’s Lack of Acknowledgment Deepens Fans’ Disappointment Post World Cup Exit
Poor Captaincy of Babar Azam and PCB’s constant support to him raising concerns:
The purpose of pampering Babar Azam too much is not understandable to fans. Babar Azam has not performed up to the mark for so long, yet leading the side with full PCB back support. Even after constant back-to-back failures, the Pakistan Cricket Board has stated that Babar will continue to lead Pakistan in white ball.
That seems a very controversial decision because, in Babar’s case, PCB is sidelining their tradition of sacking the captain for not performing well even after giving him chances to lead repeatedly.
“It’s time for PCB to look at a new captain, enough time has been given to Babar Azam as a captain. No captain has received such a prolonged opportunity”. Said Shahid Afridi
That’s a big question mark on the captain’s leadership skills as well as the team’s overall performance how were they unable to come out victorious against teams like Afghanistan and the USA that too in big tournaments? And there is no one to question him. The series of disappointments continues and it’s a question of where’s and what’s the future of this team.
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