(Credit PCB)
Ricky Ponting highlighted that not all players are cut out for captaincy, noting that even some of the finest players haven’t excelled in leadership roles for their teams.
Ricky Ponting shared his perspective on Babar Azam’s recent captaincy, noting a decline in his performance. Azam is poised to lead Pakistan in the upcoming T20 World Cup for the third time. Leading up to the prestigious ICC event, Pakistan faced challenges with some lackluster performances.
Babar Azam’s team encountered setbacks, losing a T20I in Ireland and enduring a 0-2 defeat in England recently, less than ideal outcomes ahead of a major global tournament. Preceding this, Pakistan managed a 2-2 draw against New Zealand at home, despite the absence of key senior players.
Following his removal as captain after the last year’s ODI World Cup, the top Pakistani batsman experienced a reversal in fortunes with the change in PCB leadership, being reinstated as the white-ball skipper earlier this year, taking over from Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Ponting, renowned as one of cricket’s greatest captains, highlighted that leadership roles don’t suit everyone, noting that even some of the most talented players have struggled as team leaders.
“Captaincy just sits well with some people and it doesn’t sit well with others. 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,” Ponting told ICC.
“And when you are captain, you can’t do that. You’ve got to actually compartmentalise what you’re doing, look after your own game, look after all the guys around you,” he added.
The Australian cricket icon emphasized the significance of captains learning from their errors and advised that Babar should address his weaknesses, given his recent decline in performance.
“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.”
At the outset, Babar and his team will commence their T20 World Cup journey against co-hosts USA on June 6. Following this, they are scheduled to confront their arch-rivals India on June 9 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
