Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has opined that Babar Azam should leave his stubbornness and start thinking of the Pakistan cricket team’s welfare by giving up his opening slot. Babar had a torrid time in the T20 World Cup 2022, although the Men in Green finished as the runner-up following their five-wicket defeat to England in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Apart from the half-century, he scored against New Zealand in the semi-final, the Lahore-born batter mostly looked out of touch.

In a recent video on his Youtube channel, Danish Kaneria said, “Babar Azam has been stubborn about not giving up his opening spot. The same happened when he was with Karachi Kings too. He is adamant about this because he cannot bat in the middle order. His stubbornness is only doing harm to Pakistani cricket because of the slow starts.”

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Danish Kaneria also showered praise on former Indian skipper Virat Kohli for his selflessness. The veteran said that Kohli didn’t throw in the towel despite being criticized for his bad form. 

The former spinner explained, “When it comes to being selfless, there is no one like Virat Kohli. The team lost the World Cup under his captaincy, and he was made the scapegoat after that. Many raised questions about his place in the team. But he didn’t give up. He gave his full support to the new captain and played at the number he asked him to.”

Kohli finished the T20 World Cup as the leading run-getter. Apart from being the top run-scorer in the history of the mega event, the 34-year-old Kohli also became the first batter to score 4000 runs in T20Is.

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In six matches of the T20 World Cup 2022, Kohli scored 296 runs at an average of 98.66 and a strike rate of 136.40 with four half-centuries to his name. His top score of 82* came against Pakistan at the MCG.