After Mohammad Hafeez, another former Pakistan skipper Salim Malik lashed Babar for his captaincy suggesting that he should leave it if he is unable to do it.
Pakistan lost their first 2022 T20 World Cup match against India despite dominating the majority of the thrilling match. Pakistani pacers had set India back early in the innings taking 4 wickets with both Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya struggling on the pitch.
But Kohli managed to produce a brilliant innings of 82 from 53 balls, and left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz failed to defend 16 in the last over.
Following the loss, Pakistan captain Babar Azam was criticised for his decisions by former skipper Salim Malik. Malik felt if the 28-year-old skipper tends to repeat the same mistakes over and over again, he should resign from captaincy.
“During these under-pressure situations, senior players have an important role to play. If your captain is taking a wrong decision, you go and tell him you are doing it wrong, try doing this. That’s why I always say senior players should stand near bowlers when they are bowling. So, they can encourage them and tell them what to do. After these many years of experience, if you still can’t captain your team, you should leave it for the others. Many before him have already left the role,” Salim Malik said on 24 News HD.
Salim is not the only one who lambasted Babar for his captaincy, another former skipper Hafeez also raised questions.
In an interview, Hafeez told Rahi Cricket, “Babar Azam's captaincy is like a sacred cow that cannot be criticised. It's the third-consecutive big game that we are seeing flaws in Babar's captaincy, but we keep hearing that by the time he gets to the age of 32 he will learn.
“In today's match, from the 7th over till the 11th over, when India were struggling for even 4 runs an over, why did Babar not fulfil the spin quota overs in that time frame?”
Pakistan will take on Zimbabwe in their second match of the tournament on October 27.
