Many consider Babar Azam to be one of the greatest hitters in contemporary cricket. But for quite some time, there have been doubts about his captaincy abilities.
Babar and company had a dismal Asia Cup campaign, finishing last in the Super-Four stage of the competition, before the ODI World Cup 2023. Still, the supporters saw the fiasco as an anomaly and wished for a strong World Cup showing. Pakistan began the season with back-to-back victories, but a four-match losing skid scuppered their momentum.
Their two resounding victories over New Zealand and Bangladesh put them back in the running for a semi-final spot. To advance to the knockout stages, they will need to defeat England by a significant margin in their final match. Former cricket players and Pakistani supporters have both criticized Babar.
He’s also been subjected to some challenging questioning from the media. On Friday, Geo News received information from reliable sources suggesting that the 29-year-old may give up his position as white-ball captain after his return from India. It was discovered that Babar has been discussing his future as captain with Ramiz Raja, the former head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), who is now in India providing commentary. It’s known that Babar’s close friends and family have encouraged him to step down as captain of all three versions.
On November 11, Pakistan and England will play in match 44 of the ODI World Cup 2023 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. During the pregame press conference, the magic hitter was questioned about his future as the ‘Men in Green’ captain. He declared that he would make a choice following the match versus the reigning champs.
“As I already stated, we will see what transpires regarding the captaincy after we return to Pakistan or following this game. But I’m not thinking about this right now; I’m thinking on the next game,” Babar remarked.
Babar Azam sounded annoyed and had a melancholy appearance: Ramiz Raja
On the eve of Pakistan against England, Babar Azam and Ramiz Raja met spontaneously at the famous Eden Gardens. According to Ramiz, Babar was unhappy about Pakistan’s poor showing in the current World Cup and felt disappointed.
“The meeting was not nominated. At the nets, I was performing for the ICC. The meeting happened by accident. The 61-year-old informed SUNO News that there were no particular arrangements made for this encounter with Babar.
“Babar appeared unhappy and sounded angry that Pakistan was not able to go to the World Cup semifinals. Pakistani athletes have experienced the response from their homeland. Journalists and PCBs both have significant roles to play, but the most do not. In the age of social media, it can be challenging to adapt. In actuality, some journalists target players based only on their cities, which has severely harmed Pakistani cricket. We have a tribal mentality here,” he continued.
Ramiz praised Babar Azam for maintaining his composure under pressure during the news conference. He also praised the Pakistani captain for responding to some challenging queries with sufficient composure and maturity. Remarkably, Ramiz Raja went on to say that if he had been Azam, he would have preferred to respond angrily to queries at this point in the World Cup and the way Babar Azam handled it with composure.
“Babar is a well-mannered, mature captain who has excellent anger management skills. People’s comments are intolerable, and the Pakistan cricket team is losing. If I had been Babar, I would have responded harshly during the press conference. As critics, I believe we must reflect on ourselves,” Ramiz stated.
“Pakistan cricket lacks a system similar to that of Australia or India, who have excellent reserves. We must make judicious use of the players we now have. No significant adjustments are required. For Pakistan Cricket to advance, time is needed. After speaking with him, I felt awful,” he remarked.
It was also inquired of Ramiz whether Babar had spoken to him about taking over as captain. The former World Cup champion acknowledged that they had a conversation, but she chose not to share any specifics.
“This was a private conversation between Barbar and me, and I don’t want to make it public,” Ramiz said in closing.
India
