• Babar Azam-led Pakistan was whitewashed 0-3 by England in home Tests last month.

  • Former cricketer Misbah-ul-Haq is one of the most successful captains for Pakistan.

Former coach Misbah-ul-Haq shares his opinion on split captaincy in Pakistan cricket
Babar Azam, Misbah-ul-Haq (Image Source: Twitter)

Pakistan cricket team is currently going through a bad phase. Firstly they lost to Sri Lanka in the finals of the 2022 Asia Cup and, later the same year, went on to lose the T20 World Cup title to England.

Apart from white ball cricket, Babar Azam captained Pakistan, aren’t doing great in Tests too, as they faced a whitewash against England in a home series last month.

It was Pakistan’s first-ever 0-3 loss on home soil in a three-match test leg.

In the recently concluded Test series against New Zealand, the hosts were almost on the verge of a defeat but somehow managed to end it in a draw.

Following their poor performance, Babar faced a lot of criticism for his leadership. But now veteran cricketer Misbah-ul-Haq has defended the current Pakistan skipper.

Misbah, who is also the most successful Test captain of Pakistan, talking to Geo news, said that attempts are being made to weaken Babar.

“It is visible, Babar is being forced to become weak, which is not good. The kind of press conferences and questions being asked from Babar, everyone is watching,” Misbah said to Geo News.

“If there is a decision to be made, everyone should sit together and make a decision. The players, the selection committee, and the board should sit down and make a decision comfortably. They should review the situation and If they think changes should be made, then they should do it. If you put pressure on someone for any other reason, the whole team will be disturbed. It should not happen,” he added.

Referring to the team’s performance in shorter formats and split captaincy, Misbah said: “Pakistan team is undoubtedly a powerhouse in white ball cricket. Pakistan’s bowlers and batters are top in white-ball cricket.”

“Appointing separate captains shakes up everything as it gives birth to competition. It creates a political environment,” he concluded.

Notably, recently in ODIs, Babar scored two back-to-back fifties against Kane Williamson-led New Zealand, of which one came in a winning cause.

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Vishwanath Hariharan is Content Strategist at CricketTimes.com. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. From breaking news stories to in-depth features and opinion pieces, he has covered a wide range of topics. Vishwanath is very fond of watching cricket. Like many others, he too grew up watching, playing, and imitating his favourite players of the game. MS Dhoni is like a demigod to him. You can connect with him at vishwanath.hariharan@crickettimes.com and follow him on Twitter & Linkedin.