Pakistan’s premier batsman, Babar Azam, has responded brilliantly over his criticism from Tanvir Ahmed regarding his English-speaking skills.
Azam was recently appointed as the Pakistan limited-overs captain, taking over from Sarfraz Ahmed.
Earlier, Tanvir suggested Babar to improve his oratory skills which would help the latter during the toss, press conferences and interaction with media.
To which, Babar responded by saying that his job is to play cricket and he is not a ‘Gora’ [England citizen]. Babar feels he need not speak fluently in his second language.
“Babar Azam also needs to improve his English, which is necessary. Whenever someone becomes a captain, he has to talk during the toss and post-match presentation. Plus, he will also give interviews on various channels when he tours different countries,” former cricketer Ahmed had said.
Responding to Tanvir, Babar said: “I’m a cricketer, my job is to play cricket. I am not a ‘gora’, who knows English completely. Yes, I am working on it, but you learn these things over a period of time, you can’t just suddenly learn it.”
Pakistani cricketers getting trolled for their weak English-speaking skills is not a new phenomenon. The likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Akmal, and Sarfraz Ahmed have been brutally roasted on social media for their interactions with the media.
However, one must take into account that Urdu is their mother tongue, and English is only their second language.
Even great footballers such as Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and other South American and European stars prefer to speak in their mother tongue, Spanish or Portuguese while interacting with the media, as English isn’t their strong suit. Thus, it applies for cricketers as well, and the hypocrisy has befuddled many.
Further, Babar has taken notes from the style of the captaincy of their legendary world cup winning captain Imran Khan.
“I believe in attacking captaincy like Imran Khan. It is an honour for me to captain Pakistan in ODIs as well. I take advice from Misbah bhai and senior players with regards to captaincy. It is not easy to lead the Pakistan side but I will try my best to ensure the team produces good results in ODI and T20I cricket,” concluded Azam.
