WATCH: Babar Azam's blunt reply to reporter's 'do you think you should leave Test captaincy' question

Pakistan and New Zealand will lock horns again for a three-match ODI series starting January 9 at the National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi. After the Test series finished in a tie, the Babar Azam-led Pakistan squad will try to mount a strong comeback. This will be the first ODI match for Pakistan since their tour of the Netherlands in August 2022.

When Pakistan's team returns to limited-overs play against the Kiwis, the captain will be under increased pressure to perform as his captaincy demands after the team has failed to win a single Test at home during the 2021–23 World Test Championship cycle. The pressure surely will be high on Babar as Pakistan prepare for the Asia Cup and the World Cup 2023, but he still faces criticism over his role as a captain.

A reporter questioned Babar about quitting the captaincy in the longest format of the game before the first ODI. The Pakistani captain had a direct one-line response that was justified, but he looked irked by the question.

“You're on your way to becoming one of the batting greats. But players like Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, and Saeed Anwar… were great batters but couldn't be great captains. We couldn't win a single Test in 8 attempts on home soil, do you think you should leave Test captaincy so that your target to become one of the greatest batters of the game becomes more easy?” the reporter asked.

“We are playing white ball cricket right now, Tests are over. If you have any question on the white-ball series, you ask that,” Babar replied naively.

With four victories in 14 games, Pakistan are currently in a pitiful seventh place in the World Test Championship rankings and are no longer strong candidates for a spot in the ultimate title clash. India is now in second place (58.93 percentage points), trailing Australia (75.56%), and both teams will compete in a four-match Test series starting next month that is likely to determine the WTC cycle's finalists, which is scheduled in June 2023.

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