Amid furore over Pakistan’s early T20 World Cup exit, Michael Vaughan says Babar Azam should… – Times of India

NEW DELHI: As former champions Pakistan suffered a humiliating first-round exit from the ongoing T20 World Cup on Friday, the Babar Azam-led side has been dealing with some serious criticism from fans on social media and former players.

From being slammed relentlessly by the legends to being accused of having ‘groupings’ within the team, the last two weeks for the Pakistan team have not looked good.

Defeats to minnows USA and arch-rivals India cost Pakistan dearly as the 2009 champions failed to even reach the Super Eight stage.

And skipper Babar has been in the eye of the storm, facing the heat and wrath of the fans with demands of his removal as T20 captain.

But former England captain Michael Vaughan wants Pakistan to continue with Babar as they have got to show some consistency.

Vaughan said that he does not see Babar as T20 captain but the board can not do chopping and changing every time and overreact.

Babar, in late March, this year, was re-assigned as captain following the removal of Shaheen Afridi.

“I still don’t see him as a T20 captain. I see him as a Test and 50-over captain. In those two formats in which he excels as a player. In T20 cricket, his game is very good, a pure player, but he is not up there with the top 15 batters in the world in T20 cricket. I think there are better players than him up the order,” Vaughan said on Cricbuzz

“But I don’t want them to change it (captain) again. You assume they got to have some consistency. There’s no point changing once again. Even if he is not perfectly suited to captain in T20 cricket, I do think for this period, its worth him staying consistent because the last thing Pakistan need is a bit more kamikaze, swapping in and changing and overreacting. I think most Pakistan fans will be realistic with this team’s performance. They have actually not got a great team, at the minute, on paper, its just not a very good team. Its down to the coaches, selectors and the system back in Pakistan to try and give those in power (captain and coaches) to choose a pool of players,” he added.

Pakistan are set to host Champions Trophy in 2025 and there are calls for a major shake-up in the team and the management.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi — who is also the country’s interior minister — recently said changes were imminent.

“Pakistan team needs a major surgery,” he told local media after the India defeat.

“We must endeavour to make the Pakistani cricket team one of the best in the world. The nation does not expect such a disappointing performance.”