Pakistan had a poor performance at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. They went on to lose five matches, which is the worst for them in a single World Cup edition. Adding to that, the form of skipper Babar Azam didn’t help the cause.
Batters didn’t score runs in crucial matches, bowlers performed below par, and the fielding was not up to par. All in all, it was a poor team effort, which led to a number of changes in management and support staff.
The PCB fired the entire selection committee, and Babar Azam resigned from the captaincy across all three formats. Shaheen Afridi and Shan Masood became the captains of the T20 and Test, respectively. Pakistan’s poor performance in the World Cup forced a number of former cricketers to raise questions about Babar’s leadership skills.
Now former Pakistani pacer Junaid Khan has made a blasting statement, saying that Babar was not a “quick learner” as a captain despite his four-year captaincy tenure across formats. In the latest episode on Nadir Shah’s podcast, Junaid made some big statements.
He said, “Babar had not improved as a captain. People say we became the 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 par.”
The pacer stated that under Sarfaraz Khan, Pakistan won the Champions Trophy because he was an aggressive captain. He also talked about Pat Cummins and said that he is an aggressive captain because of the way he talks as a leader.
The left-arm pacer also talked about MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming. He said that people say that those two were not aggressive, but they knew how to lead the side in tough conditions. Junaid concluded that Babar didn’t have the skillset of a captain, which is why Pakistan didn’t win any big tournaments under him.
