"He should take a tough call and quit captaincy in T20 cricket" - Former Pakistan skipper on Babar Azam

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi believes the time has come for current skipper Babar Azam to step down from leading the T20I team. Afridi has opined that Babar should instead focus just on contributing with the bat.

Although Pakistan made it to the final of the T20 World Cup Down Under, Babar had a tournament to forget with the bat. He scored just 124 runs from seven innings at an appalling strike rate of 92.23.

Speaking to SAMAA TV, Shahid Afridi explained why Babar Azam needs to stop letting his batting get affected by the captaincy, not just for Pakistan but also in the PSL for his new franchise Peshawar Zalmi. He said:

"Babar was not happy with the management at Karachi Kings as it is. I feel he should take a tough call and quit captaincy in T20 cricket. He should focus on his batting and lead the team in Tests and one-dayers."

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Shahid Afridi on Babar Azam's replacement as Pakistan captain in the shortest format

Shahid Afridi wants Babar Azam to continue leading the team in the longer formats. He feels players like Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan and even Shan Masood are good enough to take the reins from the current captain in the shortest format.

On this, Afridi stated:

"I respect Babar a lot and that's why I don't want him to take the pressure of captaincy in T20 cricket. I want him to focus on his captaincy in longer formats. You do have players like Shadab, Rizwan and even Shan Masood who can lead the team in the T20 format."

Babar struggled to produce results as the Karachi Kings skipper, so it will be interesting to see whether he captains his new team Peshawar Zalmi in PSL 2023. Questions are also being raised about his batting position, as many former players have come out and said that Babar is better suited at No. 3.