Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has asked his critics to contact him directly if they wish to offer any advice regarding captaincy and not take to public platforms to air their views.
During a media interaction ahead of Pakistan’s final league match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Babar said, “It’s very easy to give opinion on TV. If someone wishes to offer advice, they are welcome to call me directly, my number is known to everyone.”
The likes of Shoaib Malik and Moin Khan have been critical of Babar’s captaincy in the ongoing world cup.
“The guy who is most responsible is the captain,” Malik had said during an interview.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
On the other hand, Moin cited the example of Virat Kohli to advise Babar to leave captaincy and instead focus on batting.
“He (Babar) would have been better playing as a batsman than leading this team. Look at Kohli,” said Moin.
Pakistan have won four and lost as many of their eight matches so far and are currently fifth on the points table. They need to beat England by a massive margin to keep pip New Zealand for a semi-final spot.
Babar himself has been consistent, having managed just 282 runs from eight innings.
“I have been captaining my team for the last three years and I have never felt this way. It’s just because I have not performed the way I should have in the World Cup, that’s why people are saying that I am under pressure,” Babar said.
“I don’t think I was under any pressure or felt any different because of this. I try to give my best in the field during the fielding. During batting, I think about how I should make runs and make the team win,” he added.
Upon being quizzed if certain decisions were being made by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) directly from Lahore, Babar rejected the claims.
“I have no idea what decisions you are talking about. The decisions we make here, regarding selections of players — are the decision of the coaches and the captain,” he said.
“We go with the best combination of conditions and situations. Sometimes we have succeeded and sometimes we haven’t. About the captaincy — as I said, once we go back to Pakistan or after this match, we will see what happens. But right now, I am not focusing on this, my focus is on the next match,” he added.
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