(Source News18)
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) faced a turbulent period following the team’s disappointing performance in last year’s ODI World Cup in India. Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy across formats, and when Shaheen Shah Afridi replaced him in T20Is, rumors of discord between the two spread on social media.
After a few months, the PCB experienced administrative changes, and the new management reinstated Babar as Pakistan’s white-ball captain.
Despite reports suggesting a clash of egos between the two star cricketers, they consistently denied any rift. Now, Pakistan aims for a second T20 World Cup title under Babar’s leadership.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes Pakistan looks more settled with Babar leading the team. Speaking to the ICC, Ponting expressed his belief that the 29-year-old batsman is poised to make a significant impact at the prestigious event in the western hemisphere.
“Captaincy just sits well with some people and it doesn’t sit well with others,” Ponting told The ICC Review.
“We’ve seen it through the years that some of the best players that have ever played the game have not necessarily made the best captains and the thing that makes some of the very best players so good is how focused they are on what they need to do to get better and to be the best and find a way every day to get better.
“And when you are captain, you can’t do that. You’ve got to actually compartmentalize what you’re doing, look after your own game, look after all the guys around you. So, some guys can manage that better than others.
“I reckon Babar, when he first started, I had that feeling that he… because if you look at his record, his numbers went down on the back of it. So I think he might have learned a bit from that.
“Shaheen didn’t set the world on fire as a leader either, so I think going back into a World Cup it just looks like a more settled team when you’ve got someone like Babar as captain rather than Afridi.”
Guided by Babar Azam, Pakistan will kick off their campaign against hosts the USA on Thursday in Texas.
