Babar Azam Reveals That He Wants To Emulate The Imran Khan Style of Leadership

Babar Azam ha impinged himself as one of the leading batsmen of the current era and he has done that through sheer hard work, relentless grit, and of course a plethora of prodigious batting skills. The 25-year-old is averaging over 50 in One-day International captain and is also the No.1 ranked T20I batsman in the world.

Another challenge now galore for the stylish right-handed batsman as he embarks on a journey of leading Pakistan in both the white-ball formats. Babar, who has been leading the T20I side since October when Sarfaraz Ahmed was stripped of his role from all formats of the game, was recently appointed the captain of the 50-over team.

And, the 25-year-old has now revealed that he wants to adopt the Imran Khan style of leadership and become a cool and collected skipper, who backs his players to the hilt and at the same takes his side along with him.

“When you are captaining, you need to have a bit of a cool mind, you’ve to carry your team along, you’ve to be methodical with your plans against the opposition to get them out. You have to be a little controlled, inside you may feel angry but you have to be in control. I learnt this in under-19 [cricket]. In the ground, you may have to tone down the aggression and give the players confidence. If you back your players 110%, they’ll do that well. I want to be an attacking captain. I want to adopt the Imran Khan style,” Babar Azam told ESPNCricinfo.

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Current ODI ranking not acceptable to me: Babar Azam

Babar Azam takes over the mantle of leading the Pakistan ODI team at a time when the Men in Green are languishing at the No.6 spot in the world rankings. Pakistan hasn’t beaten a top-ranked side in 50-over cricket since their 2-1 win against South Africa way back in 2015. The Men in Green failed to qualify for the semi-finals in last year’s World Cup and Azam said that one of his priorities will be to take his side to the top-3.

“I’m grateful to the PCB for naming me as ODI captain. I’ve captained the U19 as well as the T20I team in the past. When I look at our rankings in the formats, it is not acceptable for me and my task is to bring that up to the top-3. Misbah bhai called me and congratulated me for getting the ODI captaincy. PCB thought I was ready and they gave it to me. I’m ready.” Babar Azam said.

Babar also reckoned that the additional responsibility of leading the team will not have any effect on his batting. Azam is expected to be next seen in action when Pakistan tour England for three Tests and as many T20Is in July.

Also Read: Babar Azam Breaks His Silence On Comparisons With Virat Kohli