Shoaib Malik advises Babar to step down as captain

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan cricket team captain, Shoaib Malik, has advised current skipper Babar Azam to consider stepping down from his captaincy role and instead focus solely on his performance as a player.

Malik said this after Pakistan team exhibited abysmal performance against India in a recently held match in Ahmedabad.

He emphasized that a single loss in a match should not mark the end of the world for the Pakistan team and that it’s a time to learn and strive to move forward.

According to Shoaib Malik, this is the right moment for the Pakistan cricket team to take lessons from this defeat and make an effort to progress. He stressed, “We need to wake up now; there are still eight matches left, and these are the same 15 players we have to rely on.”

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Responding to a question, he further explained, “Babar should leave the captaincy and play as a cricketer. I’m not saying this because we lost today; I’ve said this in interviews before.”

The former captain believes that Babar, as a player, has the potential to do a lot for himself and the team. He remarked, “I think when Babar is in the leadership role, he doesn’t think as an out-of-the-box performer.”

Shoaib Malik also expressed that Babar’s personal performance and leadership should not be mixed. “While his individual performance is top-notch worldwide, his leadership skills have not seen significant improvement despite his tenure as captain for a long time,” he said.