‘He can do wonders for himself….’ – Former Pakistan’s all-rounder advices Babar Azam to quit captaincy and focus only on his batting

The Pakistan team has won two matches out of three in the ODI World Cup 2023. Notably, Babar Azam and Co. got their first win against the Netherlands in their opening game, whereas they registered a historic win over Sri Lanka in their next clash. However, on October 14, the Men in Green are humiliated against hosts India in their third clash of the marquee event.

Meanwhile, former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik feels skipper Babar Azam should leave the captaincy and solely focus on his batting skills. Notably, Babar Azam has been the subject of criticism following his loss to India as well as his poor performances in the first two games of the ODI World Cup 2023, where he got just 5 and 10 runs against Netherlands and Sri Lanka. Following the same, former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik feels that the 28-year-old skipper can do wonders if he leaves the captaincy pressure.

“Look, I will give you my honest opinion on this. I have already said this in previous interviews that Babar should leave captaincy, it is just my opinion but there’s a lot of homework behind it. Babar, as a player, can do wonders for himself as well as the team,” Shoaib Malik said.

I think that Babar Azam, as a leader, doesn’t think out of the box: Shoaib Malik

The 41-year-old cricketer feels Babar Azam doesn’t think outside the box and suggests he should not mix his leadership qualities with his batting skills. Moreover, the legendary cricketer feels Shaheen Shah Afridi should be the next skipper owing to his fantastic and attacking leadership qualities in PSL.

I think that Babar, as a leader, doesn’t think out of the box. One shouldn’t mix his leadership with his batting skills as they both are different. He has been a captain for a long time now, but he hasn’t been able to improve himself. Shaheen Afridi should become captain in white ball cricket in case Babar Azam resigns. He has done an attacking captaincy for Lahore Qalandars,” he added further.