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Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik said that had he been in Babar Azam's shoes, he would have resigned as skipper after Pakistan's horrific T20 World Cup campaign. The Men in Green failed to qualify for the Super 8, with just wins against minnows Canada and Ireland to show for their efforts.
Malik, who captained Pakistan in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, said that he was asked to lead the team again after a couple of years. However, he refused the offer, as he wanted to contribute more as a player, adding that captaincy has affected Babar's returns as a batter.
Speaking on Ten Sports, Malik said about what he would have done had he been in Babar Azam's shoes:
"I think I would immediately resign from captaincy and focus on my cricket.
"This had happened with me when I was offered the captaincy again for a year around 2009-10, but I denied it because I just wanted to focus on my cricket. I am not just saying for the sake of it. His numbers also tell a story."
Babar averaged 48.48 in 38 T20I innings when he wasn't the captain. That drops to 37.28 in the 77 T20I innings as captain, suggesting that the star batter performs better without the added responsibility.
There hasn't been any improvement in Babar Azam's leadership: Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik opined that even if one overlooks Babar Azam's numbers as a batter, there hasn't been any improvement in the his leadership. Shedding light on the number of tournaments Babar got as a captain and failed to win, Malik said:
"If there was any improvement as a leader of the team then definitely he should have continued.
"But there hasn't been any. Captain is the one who gets the best out of players. He captained in three T20 World Cups, an ODi World Cup and two Asia Cups and won nothing."
Recently appointed PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi had reinstated Babar Azam as Pakistan's white-ball captain. However, after a disappointing campaign that witnessed a shock defeat to the USA, it will be interesting to see if Babar steps down from the captaincy or is replaced.
