Babar Azam Might Relinquish ODI Captaincy Duties In The Near Future: Rashid Latif

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif believes that the current national side skipper, Babar Azam, might consider relinquishing the leadership role from one of three formats if Pakistan ends up losing in the T20I series in England and the West Indies.

Babar Azam was appointed the captain of white-ball teams after the sacking of Sarfaraz Ahmed from all three formats in September 2019. Last year, Babar was given the Test captaincy as well post the dismissal of the incumbent Azhar Ali.

Pakistan suffered a humiliating 0-3 defeat in the recent ODI series against England and while Rashid Latif reckoned that Babar will get a bit of leeway given the fact that Pakistan have won a few series under him prior to the England tour, according to him, Babar Azam might consider relinquishing the role from one of the two white-ball forms if things go down in the T20I rubbers against England and the West Indies.

Pakistan have, however, got off to a brilliant start in the T20I series against England as they racked up their highest score in the shortest format (232) to eventually win the game and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

“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,” Rashid Latif said on Cricket Baaz Youtube channel.

According to Rashid Latif, while Babar Azam is a good captain in the shortest format, it’s the ODI format where he struggles as a leader.

The former wicketkeeper-batsman believes that Pakistan needs an aggressive captain in 50-over cricket and all-rounder Hassan Ali can be a great option to consider.

”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.

Also Read- PCB Made A Mistake By Sacking Sarfaraz Ahmed And Mickey Arthur After 2019 WC: Rashid Latif