Babar Azam should not have taken captaincy for a second time: Shahid Afridi

Legendary Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi slammed the selection committee's decision to reinstate Babar Azam as captain despite his continuous failures.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former skipper said that Babar should not have accepted the captaincy for a second time. 

Afridi maintained that after a string of losses under Babr’s captaincy, the selection committee had to answer why he was made the captain again.

While acknowledging Babar Azam's batting prowess, he opined that the 28-year-old batter might not be the ideal captain for Pakistan.

He suggested Mohammad Rizwan as a better choice for captaincy, highlighting that "Pakistan needs a captain with match-winning capabilities like Virat Kohli".

"Babar Azam stated in a post-match presentation that the bowlers were at fault, but it shouldn't be a blame game and Babar should have led the team as a unit," Afridi said.

On Friday, the match between the USA and Ireland was cancelled due to rain and a wet outfield. This left Pakistan with fewer points on the table than the USA, resulting in their elimination from the T20 World Cup. 

The USA, on the other hand, advanced to the Super Eight stage.

Pakistan lost their opening T20 World Cup match in a major upset. The debutants, USA, defeated the Green Shirts in a thrilling super over finish. 

In their second match, Pakistan suffered a crushing defeat against India in the mega event on Sunday, failing to chase down the lowest target of 120 runs and collapsing in the batting department.

However, Baba-XI secured a victory against Canada by defeating them by 7 wickets on Tuesday at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.

Pakistan's poor performance in their first three matches, coupled with a low run rate, left them with insufficient points on the table. This paved the way for the USA, who secured two victories in the T20 World Cup’s first stage.