Shoaib Malik Takes A Dig At Babar Azam, Says He Won’t Fit In Australia, England And India’s Best XI – News18

Former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik has made a bold claim about Babar Azam on live television. Speaking to Ten Sports on June 29, Malik compared Babar to other star players from cricket’s biggest teams. He also put himself in an imaginative situation, asking if Babar would be a good fit in other top T20 teams in the world. As per a report from Cricket Addictor, he said, “Who is our [Pakistan’s] best player? Our best player is Babar Azam. I’m only talking about the top 4-5 teams in the world. If Babar Azam is to put into the Australian, England or Indian T20I team, is he a good fit? No.”

Very often fans witness social media debates on whether a star player would make a good fit in another team. As for Babar, Malik feels that the Pakistan skipper has no chance of finding a place in the top teams of cricket.

This is not the first time Malik has publicly criticised Babar. Nearly three weeks back, the cricketer had questioned the batting approach of Pakistan’s senior players including the skipper. Speaking after Pakistan’s six-run loss to India at the T20 World Cup 2024, Malik asked Babar to renounce team captaincy. This is what he said on Ten Sports as per several media outlets – “I have been saying for a long time, please leave captaincy.”

While Malik was critical of Baba’s role as captain, he did classify the Pakistan skipper as a ‘Class batter’. In the same interview, Malik emphasized how Babar should focus more on his batting. “You are a class player, and you will only be able to show your class when you do not have additional responsibilities on you. If Babar stays away from captaincy, it will be good for him,” he said.

Pakistan cricket team, under the leadership of Babar, failed to impress, as they crashed out of the tournament in the group stage. Pakistan endured consecutive losses to co-hosts USA and arch-rivals India. They won their next games against Canada and Ireland but it just was not enough for them to book a berth at the Super Eight stage.

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