‘I Want Babar to…’ Ravi Shastri Makes a Huge Statement on Babar Azam

image-lq9bvwbkShan Masood (L) and Babar Azam (R).  (AFP)

Former Indian team head coach and renowned broadcaster Ravi Shastri is of the opinion that former Pakistan skipper Babar Azam should take on the role of Vice-Captain. Shastri highlighted Babar's valuable experience and knowledge, emphasizing the importance of effective communication, particularly with the bowlers.

After Pakistan’s disappointing show in the 2023 World Cup, which was played in India, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) forced Babar Azam to step down from his role as captain across three formats of the game. 

After Babar resigned, Shan Masood was appointed as Test captain, while Shaheen Shah Afridi was made the captain of the T20I team. These appointments were made before the start of the Test series between Pakistan and Australia.

In another development just before the start of the first Test between the two nations in Perth, Shaheen was named as the vice-captain of the Test team.

Shastri wants Babar to be Masood's deputy

Speaking on Fox Sports, Shastri highlighted Babar's valuable experience and knowledge as the reasons for choosing the Lahore-born cricketer as the vice-captain of the team. He emphasized the importance of effective communication, particularly with the bowlers.

“I want Babar Azam to be Vice Captain, he has experience, he has some knowledge he can communicate with bowler and he should do. I can say it on his face that I don't wanna see quite Babar Azam on the field, there should be some communication, some aggression on the field,”  Ravi Shastri on Fox Sports before play of Day 4.

Babar fell just before the tea break on day 4, courtesy of a well-directed delivery from Australia's captain Pat Cummins that brushed Babar's glove and landed in the hands of Alex Carey. He struggled to contend with Cummins throughout the over. Interestingly, Babar suffered a similar fate in the first innings, being dismissed by Mitchell Marsh in the same manner. 

The Struggle is real for Babar and Pakistan

Turning to the match, Australia convincingly defeated Pakistan by 360 runs in the Test series opener in Perth, securing an early 1-0 lead. The Aussies displayed a clinical performance, dominating the majority of the contest. David Warner, playing his last Test series, shone with a remarkable 164-run inning in the first innings, while Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, and Nathan Lyon also made notable contributions with the ball to wrap up the game within four days.

Nothing seems to be going in Babar’s way in the last few months. He has been struggling with the bat to score runs. After relinquishing captaincy, it was expected that Babar would play with more freedom and would be back among runs, but it didn't work out well as he registered low scores in both innings of the Perth Test. It's worth noting that Babar has an average of 23.14 from 7 Test innings in 2023, without a single hundred or fifty.