The ninth edition of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), has finished for the Pakistan team, under the leadership of Babar Azam, whom the former captain of the national side, Shoaib Malik wants to step down from the position.
Under Babar Azam’s captaincy, the ‘Men in Green’ reached the semifinal of the 2021 edition of the tournament, where they lost the game to Australia in Dubai, whereas they ended up as the runners-up to England during the final of the last edition of the competition at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
But they had a horrible tournament in the USA, where they, for the very first time, were eliminated from the group stage of the tournament, thanks to their defeats against the co-host, and arch-rival India, with other results pinned them in that situation.
‘My argument is backed by Babar Azam’s numbers as captain’- Shoaib Malik
The veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik took the stance that with the end of Pakistan’s campaign in this T20 World Cup, the current national team captain should step down himself before their next T20I series.
Also Read: ‘The Stability Given By Axar Patel Has Given India A Lot More Than Ravindra Jadeja’- Irfan Pathan
In their very first game of the tournament at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, the 2009 champions struggled with their batting performances, as their best batter of this format- Babar Azam wasn’t getting his timing right with the bat in hand and failed to meet the right rhythm.
It was Shadab Khan’s 40-run knock in 25 balls that helped them to get some crucial momentum in their batting, but after his dismissal too, the whole pack fell like a pack of cards, before Shaheen Shah Afridi’s few big shots took them to 159 in their 20-overs. The ‘Green brigade’ couldn’t hold their nerve for a long time, especially in the super-over, and had to accept a heartbreaking defeat.
Against India, Pakistan did a great job thanks to their bowlers, but another flopped batting show didn’t help them at all in the process. They kept on struggling, even from a position of 48 runs required in 48 balls with eight wickets in hand, before gifting the game to the Indian team, by six runs.
Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, during a discussion with the local sports channel, observed that Babar Azam should resign from his captaincy because they will help him to get his focus totally on his own game.
‘I immediately would have resigned from the captaincy and directed all of my focus on my cricket. It happened to me once, and I was offered the role again in 2009-10, but I did not accept the offer.’ The experienced all-rounder expressed in the show. ‘The reason was simple, I just wanted to focus on my cricket so if I were in his place, I would have resigned immediately.
Also Read: Babar Azam Loses Pakistan Test Captaincy For Bangladesh Series
The former team-mate of Babar Azam in the 2021 T20 World Cup, Malik also feels that Babar’s leadership numbers show that he needs to make huge improvements for the honorable position.
‘I am not just saying this, my argument is backed by Babar’s numbers as captain, but I am willing to sideline the statistics.’ Shoaib Malik concluded the show. ‘If he shows improvement and plays well for the country and team then he should definitely continue as captain. But there is no improvement.’
Babar has a T20I winning record of 56.47%, where he has led the runners-up of the 2007 season in 85 games, winning 48 of them and losing 29. With Pakistan’s next T20I series towards the end of the year, it will be interesting to see if the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) brings any changes in the position.
