Latif: Babar Azam's future as ODI captain is uncertain, he might step down
Collected
|| CF DESK ||
Pakistan's former wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif said in an interview that if Pakistan fails in the Twenty20 International (T20I) series against England and the upcoming tour of the West Indies, skipper Babar Azam may consider stepping down from the captaincy in one of the formats.
According to the former captain, if the situation deteriorates in the future, he may be asked to make a decision or opt to concentrate on his batting. Babar may consider standing down as One-day International (ODI) skipper.
“Babar has the team support but not the support as far as performances are concerned in this series. They won their previous few series. Here [in England] they have given very bad performances but we will still give margin to Babar. This T20 series and the upcoming tour of West Indies is very crucial for Babar’s captaincy. I think if it goes south, Babar might have to relinquish captaincy after the West Indies series in order to preserve his own performances. I think he might be asked to or take the decision himself if they fail miserably in the series against West Indies,” Latif said.
“He [Babar Azam] is ok as the T20 captain and even in Tests. The main problem is in the ODI format. We have to fix that. I think in the ODI format they should try someone like Hasan Ali. Someone with a bit of aggression should captain in the ODIs,” he added.
He also stated that it was unfair to put the entire blame on head coach Misbahul Haq for Pakistan’s 3-0 ODI series defeat against a depleted England side.
“We have made some mistakes. I personally think Sarfaraz Ahmed should have been playing at number six in the ODIs. I don’t think we have a lot of time [to make changes]. We made a lot of mistakes, and we shouldn’t just blame Misbah for them. You can't just put all the blame on his shoulders alone,” he said.
“The selection committee made some mistakes and so did Babar Azam. You can change Misbah or Waqar Younis, but the players will remain the same. A person should come in who completely changes the approach and style of playing. A person who says I don’t want these openers, I will bring my own. There is no guarantee they would perform. People like that are few in Pakistan,” he added.
