Former India cricketer and coach Sanjay Bangar has said that Pakistan’s best chance for a revival is to continue with Babar Azam as the captain of the team. However, he came under a lot of pressure following their disgraceful exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA as well.

“I still believe he is still the best man to lead Pakistan. He has to be a little bit more assertive in terms of the usage of the DRS as well. You can gauge your personality. It seems that he is letting others come into his way of decision-making. So, as a captain, you have to be decisive. That’s a quality that can be slightly more assertive. That can help his decision-making,” Sanjay Bangar told Star Sports.

However, Babar Azam has addressed the criticism about his captaincy, stating that the final decision lies in the hands of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as well. Notably, PCB picked Shan Masood for red-ball captaincy and Shaheen Afridi for the white-ball leadership when Babar Azam resigned in late 2023 as well. Both Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan have the experience of leading franchises in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well.

“There is no alternative as well, because Pakistan tried to do away with his captaincy after the 50-over World Cup debacle. But they had to go back to him again. It clearly shows that there are not a lot of potential captaincy candidates. So stick with Babar, give him the team, give him a good support system around him so that Pakistan can do well in the next World Cup,” Sanjay Bangar concluded.