“If he can…,”: Australia star gives his take on Babar’s future as Pakistan captain

Melbourne [Australia], June 24 (ANI): Australia’s Usman Khawaja opened up about Pakistan’s woeful campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup and gave his take on Babar Azam’s future as the white-ball captain.

After featuring in the finals against England in the last edition of the T20 World Cup, Pakistan surprisingly crashed out of the ongoing World Cup in the group stage.

There was a major upheaval in the entire Pakistan set-up since the conclusion of last year’s ODI World Cup. In the aftermath of the competition, Grant Bradburn and Andrew Puttick resigned from their respective positions at Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy.

Mohammad Hafeez was appointed Pakistan’s director of cricket but got sacked after New Zealand outplayed them with a 4-1 T20I series win in January.

Gary Kirsten was appointed as the white-ball head coach, along with a couple of other changes in the team management. Khawaja feels that the constant changes in the team contributed to their miserable campaign.

“When I look from the outside, everything is changing in the Pakistan cricket team. Selection committee members, staff and players keep changing,” he said while speaking at an event in Melbourne as quoted from Geo News.

After their heartbreaking campaign, Babar Azam came under heavy scrutiny and questions were raised about the future of his captaincy.

When questioned about Babar’s future as skipper, Khawaja said, “It’s Babar Azam’s decision to captain, if he can, he should.”

Pakistan ended their campaign with a three-wicket win over Ireland in Florida, a dead rubber after India and the USA, from Group A, advanced to the Super 8 stage.

Placed in Group A, Pakistan endured back-to-back defeats against the co-hosts, the USA, and then their bitter rival, India.

They bounced back with two wins on the trot, but it wasn’t enough to turn their woeful campaign around and secure a spot in the Super 8.

Pakistan’s next white-ball series will be against Australia in November. The Men in Green will engage in a three-match ODI series, which will kick off on November 4.