Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq asked for the evaluation of the performance of white-ball captain Babar Azam after the Green Shirts suffered a group-stage exit at the T20 World Cup 2024.
Pakistan lost to the United States (USA) and India in their first two matches at the World Cup after which their chances of making it to the Super 8 depended on the USA vs Ireland match.
However, that clash was called off due to rain in Florida and the USA made their way to the Super 8 after being awarded one point while Pakistan was eliminated officially.
Speaking to the media after the World Championship of Legends match, Misbah stated that the responsibility of the team is not just on the captain but also on the entire team’s performance.
"As far as Babar's performance is concerned, we need to see where he stands after four years. It's not just the captain's fault; the blame lies with all departments, including batting, bowling, and fielding," Misbah said.
"The decision-makers also need to assess where the team combination stands and what sensible options are available. However, if changes are being made just for show, just for cosmetic reasons, it will be detrimental.
“The continuous changes made by the management and captain series after series have caused us to suffer in the World Cup," he further added.
After the ODI World Cup 2023, Babar stepped down from captaincy across formats and Shaheen Afridi was named T20I captain while Shan Masood was given the red-ball team to lead and no skipper was announced for ODIs.
However, just after one T20I series, Shaheen was removed as T20I captain and Babar was reappointed as the shorter format and ODI captain.
Under Babar’s captaincy, Pakistan played three T20I series — New Zealand at home, Ireland and England away — before playing the T20 World Cup.
The Green Shirts only managed to win the series against Ireland as the home series against the Black Caps was levelled and they lost to England.
- Babar Azam
