‘He will prove to be the best captain’ - Wasim Akram defends Babar Azam amidst captaincy opprobrium

Despite playing a phenomenal brand of cricket in the past year, Pakistan skipper, Babar Azam has been criticised a lot for his poor captaincy during the T20 World Cup. Then, the defeat at the hands of England in the Test series accelerated that and so much so, that a few former Pakistan cricketers including the likes of Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Akhtar among many others have asked the cricketer to relinquish his captaincy.

Former Men in Green international, Wasim Akram, however is on the other side of the debate. He believes that the 28-year-old has the potential and will soon prove to be the best captain in international cricket.

“Babar Azam’s captaincy is under criticism these days; in this difficult time, a strong hand of support came on his shoulder. We don’t need any enemy; we are self-sufficient; stop making fun of yourself; if you have Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, or Mike Brierley sitting next to you, then you will understand Babar Azam has a 2-3 years chance. He will prove to be the best captain,” said the 56-year-old, while speaking to Cricket Pakistan.

Notably, under the leadership of Babar, Pakistan lost in the finals of the T20 World Cup and later suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of England in the Test series. Soon after that, they challenged New Zealand in a two-match Test series but didn’t find any success as the series ended on level terms. The Babar Azam-led side also suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Kane Williamson-led side in the ODI series.

When it comes to Babar’s individual performance, he has been exceptional with the bat. The top-order batter finished 2022 as the leading run-scorer across formats, scoring 2598 runs in 52 innings. He has hit 17 half-centuries and eight centuries in the meantime. Next up, he will be seen captaining the Peshawar Zalmi side in the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL).

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