LAHORE: Wicketkeeper-batsman, Kamran Akmal, believes Pakistan captain Babar Azam should try to emulate former South Africa captain, Graeme Smith, in a bid to improve his leadership skills.
While talking to media on Sunday in Lahore, Kamran praised Babar’s batting but insisted there is room for improvement in his captaincy.
“Babar Azam is a great batter but there are still question marks over his captaincy. He should be more confident as captain while also improving his body language. He has been captain for three years and it is time to deliver,” said Akmal.
“It is a World Cup year which is why he should be more aggressive as captain. Graeme Smith was also young when he was made captain. I think Babar should take a leaf out of Smith’s book,” he added.
Smith was only 22 years old, when he was appointed captain of South Africa in Test and ODIs, after Proteas disastrous campaign in 2003 World Cup at home.
Last year, after Pakistan’s team loss against Zimbabwe in 2022 T20 World Cup, Akmal, who is also the cousin of Babar, had also asked him to quit captaincy after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in Australia. Pakistan had a turnaround of fortunes after the aforementioned matches and went onto play the final of the tournament against eventual winners, England.
‘Reports of rift with Babar Azam rubbish’
Former cricketer Wasim Akram has rubbished reports of any rift between him and current Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
In an exclusive interview with the biggest website of Pakistan cricket Cricket Pakistan in Dubai, Akram said that Babar is like a son to him and slammed the journalists for spreading fake news regarding them.
“I was never upset with Babar. There are a few journalists sitting at home who are making these stories. Their job is to be on Twitter only. They won’t eat food, they won’t have tea, they are on Twitter 24/7. I haven’t met them even once,” said Wasim.
Wasim, bowling coach of Karachi Kings, also added that the decision to trade Babar to Peshawar Zalmi was taken by owners and he was not involved in it.
“Trades are very common in league cricket. It’s not my team, it’s the owner’s team,” said Wasim to Cricket Pakistan. I keep talking to Babar regularly. He’s like my own son. Why would I be upset with him? I fully support him,” he added.
