Babar Azam has been a captain for four years, but he still struggles with leadership: Akmal, Kamran

Former Pakistani cricketer Kamran Akmal made a scathing comment about Babar Azam leadership abilities. The words were made following the Men in Green’s defeat to New Zealand in the fifth T20 international match on April 24 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Notably, Mark Chapman’s spectacular undefeated ton, which he scored in just 57 balls, helped the Kiwis tie in the five-match T20I series. In a direct critique of Babar Azam leadership abilities on his YouTube channel, Kamran also said it was not surprising that the team lost the fifth Twenty20 match against the Kiwis.

“When I mention their errors, they dodge and claim that we are being critical. But rather than their performance, our attention is on their leadership. We are aware of their abilities. After four years, Babar Azam still has no idea how to lead a team; he doesn’t even know which bowler to hand the ball off to when. It’s hardly surprising that they fell short because they kept making the same errors. They won because we couldn’t manage our mistakes, Kamran claimed on his YouTube channel.

The former batter-wicketkeeper also expressed displeasure with Babar Azam’s tactical choices made during the fifth T20I’s chase. He continued to educate the captain, telling him that when two left-handed hitters were on the crease, Iftikhar Ahmed should have been given the ball instead of Shadab Khan.

“Giving the ball to Iftikhar Ahmed might have made sense if there were two left-handed batters on the crease. However, when given the ball, the New Zealand hitters promptly pummeled the leg-spinner Shadab Khan. To give the squad a chance to regain their footing, it would have been prudent to rest him and add another all-rounder, he said.

A five-match ODI series between Pakistan and New Zealand is due to start on April 27. In order to put up a solid core team for the ODI World Cup later in October 2023, the team will be aiming to win the series and fine-tune their team combinations.