PAK vs CAN: Babar Azam loses his once best friend and a Pakistan legend after loss to India

Former Pakistan batter Shoaib Malik has requested current skipper Babar Azam to quit captaincy and play as a normal player to get his mojo back.

Shoaib Malik's comments have come after the Pakistan team lost to Rohit Sharma's India 2 days ago in an ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Group A match. Babar Azam and co., despite having a very chance to help the team win their 2nd match against the Indians in the T20 WC editions, literally gave the match away due to their poor decision-making.

Questions were obvious to raise against Babar Azam's captaincy and former cricketers have not shied away from slamming the opening batter. Be it Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, or any other personality, everyone has voiced their opinion against the Pakistan captain. The common opinion from them is that they want a change and an immediate one.

With that loss to India, Pakistan faces the scare of not going through to the knockout rounds of the tournament for the first time in the last 2 editions. The Green Army reached the semi-finals in 2021 and then finished as runners-up in the 2022 edition. However, this time around, the situation is very different, and former batter Shoaib Malik has suggested a few things to Babar Azam.

Why Shoaib Malik wants Babar Azam to quit captaincy?

While speaking on a local Pakistani channel, Shoaib Malik asked Babar Azam to consider quitting his captaincy role. Malik, who has been a former teammate of Babar, claimed that the latter is a world-class batter but his growth as an individual is being restricted due to the leadership role.

Shoaib Malik told Babar Azam that he would only be able to showcase his class when he didn't have any added responsibilities. That Babar will become a better player only if he quits captaincy and it will possibly be good for the team as well.

Malik asks PCB to stop backing the core members of the T20I team

The former right-hand batter further asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to act and stop backing the core players of the T20I team going forward. Shoaib Malik wanted to convey that 120 runs were too much for the team to chase, then the players who are at fault, do not deserve to be in the team.

"It was a 120 chase; why were you trying to improve your strike rate yesterday? The platform was set in every manner. If, as a leader and a batter, your brain does kick in in these sorts of situations, when will it? I am forced to say today that the core of this team, in the T20I format, I think we have to stop backing them." - Shoaib Malik concluded.