Former Pakistan captain and member of the 1992 World Cup-winning team Wasim Akram, however, feels that Babar Azam should not be made a ‘scapegoat’ for the team’s World Cup failure. Akram, who plays the role of an analyst on the Pakistani television channel ‘A Sports’, sees the failure of the Pakistan team as a collective failure, ‘The captain does not play alone on the field. Yes, that’s right, Babar made some mistakes as a captain. Asia Cup and World Cup. But it is not right to blame him alone. Pakistan’s failure this time is the problem of the whole system. The way Pakistan cricket has been going for a year is responsible for this. None of the cricketers knew who their coach was! Now if Babar alone is made the “scapegoat” responsible for everything, it will be very bad.’
Wasim Akram feels that the pressure of captaincy is having a negative effect on Babar’s performance, ‘Babar is our big star. When he gets a run, the whole nation rejoices. Pakistanis are proud. But I think the pressure of captaincy is having a negative impact on Babar’s performance. He also seems quite tired. World Cup and Asia Cup – both tournaments felt like this. Now he needs to know how to handle pressure. One has to know while batting, how he will think just like a normal batsman. But it’s easier said than done.’
