Babar Azam's best friend backstabs him and strips him off Pakistan captaincy after T20 World Cup embarrassment

Pakistan’s campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 ended on a positive note as the team registered a hard-fought win over Ireland in Florida. After choosing to field first in bowler-friendly conditions, Pakistan’s fast bowlers created havoc and reduced Ireland to 32-6 at one point. Left-arm quick Shaheen Afridi was almost unplayable as he picked up 3 wickets in his fiery opening spell.

But Ireland managed to reach 106-9, thanks to lower-order contributions from Gareth Delany and Josh Little. Chasing 107 to win, Pakistan started cautiously but started losing wickets soon. They slumped to 62-6 at one point but skipper Babar Azam kept his composure to guide his team past the finish line.

Overall, Babar Azam had an ordinary outing with the bat in the T20 World Cup 2024. He scored 122 runs in 4 matches at a strike rate of 101.66. His low scoring rate has not come down well with several experts. Not only his batting, but Babar has had a difficult time as a captain as well.

Shoaib Malik wants Babar Azam to step down from captaincy

Former Pakistan batter Shoaib Malik wants Babar Azam to step down from his role and focus on his batting. During an interview with a local sports channel, Malik said that he would have resigned from the post had he been in Babar Azam’s position.

“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 reason was simple, I just wanted to focus on my cricket so if I were in his place, I would have resigned immediately,” Malik said.

“I am not just saying this, my argument is backed by Babar’s numbers as captain, but I am willing to sideline the statistics. If he shows improvement and plays well for the country and team then he should definitely continue as captain. But there is no improvement,” the 42-year-old added.

Babar replaced Shaheen Afridi just after one T20I series

Pakistan’s captaincy has been a huge talking point in the past few months. Babar Azam was Pakistan’s captain in the ODI World Cup 2023 but resigned from the post after the team failed to reach the semifinals. Shaheen Afridi was appointed as the team’s new captain but was sacked after just one T20I series against New Zealand, which Pakistan lost.

Under the new chairman Mohsin Naqvi, Babar was handed over the captaincy again but the team was eliminated from the group stage for the first time.