'Babar Azam's captaincy was not up to the mark': Junaid Khan

Former Pakistan pacer Junaid Khan believes that Babar Azam’s captaincy was not upto the mark, and that the Men in Green went onto become the number one team by playing against weak teams. Babar Azam recently had stepped down as Pakistan skipper, following his team’s exit from the 2023 World Cup group stage, where they finished fifth with eight points. Also read: Upheaval in Pakistan cricket is nothing new. Here's a list on constant controversy and changes “Babar had not improved as a captain. If you see Saifi bhai (Sarfaraz Khan), he kept improving day by day. We won the Champions Trophy under his leadership, become World No 1 in the T20Is,” said Junaid on Nadir Shah’s podcast. “People say we become ODI No 1 team under Babar Azam’s captaincy. But we became No 1 by playing against weak teams. Babar is not a quick learner. He is a world class batter but his captaincy was not up to the mark,” he added. Junaid gave the examples of Pat Cummins and Virat Kohli, who have led their teams with aggression. “Look at Pat Cummins, he won the ODI World Cup for Australia. He is aggressive, he walks the talk,” he said. “Virat Kohli also struggled as but he has that aggression. He struggled after MS Dhoni retired, but he still has a good record." “People will say Dhoni and Stephen Fleming were not aggressive but they know how to lead a side. Babar doesn’t had those traits. You need to show aggression to boost the boys. He has captained all the formats for four years but there was no progress,” added the 33-year-old. Junaid went onto give the example of Imran Khan, on how the 1992 World Cup final against England changed people’s perception on his captaincy. “Imran Khan was world best all-rounder of his time but if he would have not won the 1992 World Cup, I don’t think people would have cared how great a cricketer he was. Imran Khan’s record as a captain was not good but he won the last match and that’s how cricket memory works," said Junaid. Junaid Khan also praised Shaheen Shah Afridi, saying that he had changed Lahore Qalandar’s cricket. Shaheen had also been recently named as skipper of Pakistan T20I side. “Shaheen has changed Lahore Qalandar’s cricket,”  said Junaid.