Wasim Akram has advised Babar Azam to avoid captaincy in league cricket, emphasizing the unnecessary stress it brings. In a recent conversation with a local sports platform, Akram conveyed this advice to Babar Azam, urging the prominent player to focus on playing, scoring runs, and enjoying the game.
“A couple of years ago, I gave an idea to Babar Azam: don’t take on captaincy in league cricket. You’re a big player; take your money, play your game, get runs, go home, and then on to the next event. Pakistan’s captaincy is alright, but league cricket brings extra stress without any reason,” Akram said.
Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir echoed Akram’s sentiments, emphasizing the impact of captaincy stress on Azam during the World Cup. He expressed optimism about witnessing Azam’s true abilities now that he has relinquished the captaincy.
“I think you’ll see the best of Babar Azam now; you’ll see a completely different Babar Azam. I had picked Babar Azam ahead of the World Cup. I told him that he’d be the batter of the tournament, but the captaincy pressure let him down,” Gambhir said.
“When you do captaincy in the World Cup and the team doesn’t perform well, then you can imagine the pressure on the skipper. Now, you’ll see the actual Babar Azam, which no one has seen. I don’t know what the records of Babar Azam are, but you’ll see his actual ability from now on,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir also noted that there is no need for Azam to prove anything, stating that winning the Pakistan Super League (PSL) wouldn’t necessarily add value to his already impressive career.
“Babar Azam won’t get anything by winning the PSL. Honestly, Babar Azam has a lot of quality; he can go out and become the best batter Pakistan has ever produced,” Gambhir said. He added that Babar has a decade ahead of him without the added pressure of captaincy.
On November 15th, Babar stepped down from captaincy in all formats following a meeting with Zaka Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee.
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