"a tonne of homework went into it."
Shoaib Malik has stated that he believes Babar Azam should step down from his role as the captain of the Pakistan cricket team.
The revelation comes after Pakistan were thrashed by India on October 14, 2023.
Shoaib has not taken the loss well and said:
“Look, I’ll be honest with you about this. Babar would need to give up captaincy as I have previously stated in other interviews.
“Although it is simply my opinion, a tonne of homework went into it.
“As a player, Babar has tremendous potential for both personal and team success.”
Shoaib clarified that he was not saying it because of Pakistan’s recent loss but because he believed Babar had other qualities as a sportsman.
He went on to say that Babar does not “think out of the box” and that a cricketer should not mix two skills such as leadership and batting performances.
Despite his opinions, Shoaib Malik sent a message to Babar Azam, telling him to chin up and that there are many more matches to be played.
Following the defeat, Babar Azam gave his review of the match and said that his team started strong but unfortunately, the win was not meant for Pakistan.
Babar commented: “We started well, we had a good partnership. We just planned to play normal cricket and build partnerships.
“Suddenly there was a collapse and we could not finish well.
“The way we started was not good for us, we had a target of 280-290 runs but the collapse cost us.
“Our total was not good, we were not up to the mark with the new ball.
“The way Rohit [Sharma] played was an outstanding innings. We just tried to take wickets but that did not happen.”
Following the defeat, Virat Kohli was spotted giving Babar Azam a signed Team India jersey but the gesture was not well-received by former cricketer Wasim Akram.
As the video circulated on social media, Wasim expressed his frustration with the viral clip.
Wasim said: “Everybody is sharing this clip over and over again.
“But after your fans are so hurt after a disappointing performance, this should have been a private matter, it should not be done in an open ground.
“Today was not the day to do this. If you want to do this, then do it after the game in the dressing room.”
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