Babar Azam has faced criticism for his captaincy after the loss to New Zealand© AFP
After facing defeats against Australia in the ODI series and England in the T20I and Test, Pakistan recorded yet another loss at home to New Zealand in the just concluded ODI. captain Babar Azam, who scored 66 and 79 runs in his first two games, faced stiff criticism from fans and pundits for his batting style. As Pakistan had a forgettable match on their recent outing, many questions have also been raised about Babar’s captaincy. However, the former captain of India Mohamad Azharuddin have a very different opinion of the 28-year-old hitter.
Azharuddin said that Babar is not a natural opener and should hit number 4, because that would really benefit the team.
“Pakistan has two important openers – Rizwan and Babar. In the last major tournament, Babar was eliminated many times. These are the things you need to think about. If you are not running at the top of the order then you should hit in 3rd or 4th place and that also benefits Pakistan. You need to change your strategy because he’s not the opener of course.” Azharuddin told the media ahead of the International League T20 match.
Regarding Babar’s captaincy, Azharuddin said it was too early to judge his leadership skills and the hitter should be given more time.
“Everyone needs time to learn. How long has it been? 1-2 years? Give him some time. It’s not easy to judge the captaincy is such a short time,” he said.
New Zealand took a two-stroke win over Pakistan in their third and final ODI on Friday at the National Stadium in Karachi.
With this win, the away team also won the three-match ODI series with a score of 2-1, which is also the first win in their ODI series in Pakistan.
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