Babar Azam Wants To Emulate Virat Kohli And Kane Williamson In Captaincy

Recently, Pakistan Cricket Board made an unexpected announcement by removing Sarfaraz Ahmed from captaincy in Test and T20I format of the game. Azhar Ali replaced him in the longer version of the game while Babar Azam will lead Pakistan in the upcoming T20I series. Speaking of the same, Babar Azam wants to look after Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson in managing things for himself and the team.

Babar Azam, the No.1 ranked batsman in T20Is, has previously captained Pakistan in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012. He was vice-captain in the recently-concluded series against Sri Lanka and is presently captaining Central Punjab in the National T20 Cup.

Speaking of the leadership, Babar Azam is confident of putting a good show against Australian Cricket Team. He believes that captaincy won’t make any impact on his game, as he wants to emulate players like Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli, who are delivering goods for their respective countries with an added responsibility of leading the team.

You have ups and downs – Babar Azam

Pakistan’s newly appointed T20I captain earmarked India captain Virat Kohli and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson as players he wants to emulate in his new role. He doesn’t want people to judge just after one series, which he admitted as one of the low times in his career.

“People judged in three matches (against Sri Lanka) that my performance suffered because I was vice-captain,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Babar as saying. That’s not how it works. In the game of cricket, you have ups and downs, and that was a poor series for us, no question. I give 120 per cent for the team in every single match, and I don’t see why there would be an added pressure on me just because I’m the captain,” Babar Azam said.

”I’ll continue to play as I always have, and I’m sure the performances will come. Moreover, I’m not just thinking I’ll be happy to play regardless of the results. I’m looking to get a performance out of my team. And also, my individual performances. I look at current captains like Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. How well they manage their own form along with bringing results to the team. I’ll try to emulate them,” he added.

Pakistan will play three T20Is against Australia on November 3, 5 and 8, followed by two Tests later in that month. With the world cup set to be played on the same surface, Pakistan wants to make the most of the opportunity.