Babar Azam continues to be under the radar of critics for his captaincy in Test cricket. Pakistan failed to win a single Test match in 2022, and were whitewashed by England in a three-match Test series in December last year. While a lot has been said and written about the poor pitches in the nation, skipper Babar has also drawn criticism from several current and former Pakistan players for his style of captaincy. As Pakistan continue to put up a mediocre show in the format, Babar has got no escape.
After the recently-concluded second Test against New Zealand, he was asked a question by a journalist regarding the future of his Test captaincy and the answer was a blunt one from Babar.
"Kuch log keh rahe hai aapki team pe grip kamzor hoti ja rahi hai. Dosti yaari ka silsila Pakistan team mein khatam ho rahi hai. (Some people are saying that your grip over the team is getting weaker and your friendships are getting over in the Pakistan Cricket team)", the journalist said.
"Since Shahid Afridi came, he has changed the vice-captaincy in ODIs, with Shan Masood coming in to fill in the role. Now it's being said that even Test captaincy will be snatched away from you soon?" he added.
To this, Babar replied: "Sir, you will only be knowing to whom is the captaincy going. I don't care about this. My work is to perform in the field and make my team also perform."
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Talking about the second Test match between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi, the hosts last pair Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed survived 21 balls in fading light Friday while Sarfaraz Ahmed hit a fighting century to deprive New Zealand of a victory.
New Zealand were in sight of a series-clinching victory after dismissing Sarfaraz for a career-best 118 with 39 balls remaining in the match.
But as dusk settled, Naseem scored 15 and Ahmed seven to guide Pakistan to 304-9 in pursuit of a 319-run target when umpires Alex Wharf and Aleem Dar declared the light unfeasible to continue with three overs remaining.
(With AFP Inputs)