“Not being captain will release pressure from him”- Mohammad Hafeez on Babar Azam’s form.
Pakistan’s recently appointed director, Mohammad Hafeez, has presented a differing viewpoint to that of star batsman Babar Azam regarding the impact of captaincy on batting performances.After Pakistan’s disappointing performances in the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup, Babar Azam decided to step down from the captaincy role across all three formats. Despite initially being the No.1 ranked ODI team at the commencement of the Asia Cup, Pakistan faced a disheartening outcome, finishing at the bottom of the Super Fours points table. The team’s struggles continued in the World Cup, where they managed to secure only four victories out of nine games, resulting in a fifth-place finish and an absence from the semi-finals.Throughout the World Cup, Babar Azam maintained that the responsibilities of captaincy had no adverse effects on his batting performance. However, Mohammad Hafeez expressed a contradictory perspective during a recent press conference held in Lahore.
Hafeez said “As a batsman, Babar Azam has immense contributions for Pakistan. Not being captain will release pressure from him. Captaincy definitely adds pressure onto a cricketer, and if someone denies that, they are wrong. With that pressure eased, I think Babar’s performance will get even better. He has already been making excellent contributions for Pakistan cricket, and I think he will further enhance his performance to help Pakistan achieve success.”