“Babar Needs To Improve A Lot As A Captain, I Am Not In The Favour Of Having Three Captains For Three Different Formats” – Shahid Afridi

Former Pakistan National Cricket Team all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said that the Men In Green skipper Babar Azam has to make a lot of improvements in his captaincy. He also made it very clear that he is not in favor of three captains for three formats in Pakistan.

The statement comes after Pakistan’s poor home season under the leadership of Babar Azam. Pakistan recently got whitewashed by England in the three-match Test series as well as they lost the ODI series against New Zealand and failed to win a single Test against the same opposition.

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Speaking to Samaa TV, Afridi, who recently served as the PCB interim chief selector, said that he is in favour of having two different captains in the Pakistan National Cricket Team, with one skipper focusing on longer formats (ODIs and Tests) and the other on T20Is. He said:

“Win and loss are part and parcel of the game, but one shouldn’t fear loss. If experiments lead to a loss, it’s not a big deal. That gives you experience. Babar needs to improve a lot as a captain. I am not in the favour of having three captains for three different formats. What can be done is that there can be an ODI and Test captain and separate skipper for T20Is.”

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He added that Babar has been brilliant as an individual performer. He asserted:

“Babar Azam has been leading Pakistan for the last 2-3 years. As an individual performer, he is brilliant and carries the team along with him. Whatever decision is taken, don’t take it in a hurry (on whether to remove him from captaincy from any particular format). Take some time.”

When we came, vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan was benched in the Test – Shahid Afridi

Afridi further talked about vice-captain Shan Masood being benched for the first two ODIs against New Zealand and said:

“What happens when you bring in a player whose performance [is not great] or who has not played enough ODIs and make him vice-captain, then the senior players feel, it’s part of our culture and we can’t change that. It happens.

“When we came, vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan was benched in the Test. It’s not necessary that the vice-captain can’t be benched.”

Also Read: The Burden Of Leadership Overburdens Babar Azam – Mohammad Azharuddin

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