Azam Khan Speaks Smartly In Interviews...: Shoaib Akhtar Takes Another Dig At Pakistan Captain Babar Azam

Despite being one of the world's best all-format batters, Pakistan men's cricket team captain Babar Azam has faced constant criticism from former greats, fans, and experts of the game. Babar has received criticism for his batting strike rate and the team's performance under his leadership. Recently, the team suffered defeats in Test and T20I series against Australia and England at home, leading fans and greats to call for Babar's removal as captain.

In addition, former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar recently criticized Babar's communication skills and English proficiency. Akhtar's remarks received widespread condemnation from all quarters. Now, Akhtar has once again spoken about Babar, taking an indirect dig at him after Islamabad United wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan played a brilliant knock during the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) match against Karachi Kings.

Azam Khan, the 24-year-old son of former Men in Green wicketkeeper-batter Moin Khan, scored an unbeaten 72 runs from 41 balls against the Kings, helping Islamabad United chase down the target of 2023 runs with ease.

Babar Azam, a talented cricketer, has been under immense pressure due to his team's poor performances and his individual strike rate. Despite the criticism he faces, he remains a crucial player for Pakistan's cricket team. The remarks made by Shoaib Akhtar are unfortunate and unnecessary, as language proficiency should not be a measure of a player's ability to lead and perform. It is time for the cricketing community to appreciate the talents of players like Babar Azam and give them the support they need to succeed.

Akhtar praised Azam and said, "I found Azam Khan to be a responsible guy who can build innings, not just slog. He spoke smartly in the interview as well, and it felt nice to hear him speak like that as he talked about his performance. When I was playing 20 years ago, I didn't care how I spoke. But in today's era, being in the media is part of your job. I can only indicate and pinpoint for you, ‘this is a problem, please go and correct it. It's for your own benefit'. He (Azam) looked like captaincy material with the way he spoke."

He then took a dig at Babar by talking about the ICC Player of the Year award and said, "When Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shahid Afridi, and Abdul Razzaq used to play, they would say, ‘the whole ground and its crowd is mine. I control the atmosphere in this place'. And Azam was controlling that. That's how you become a star. It's not just about winning ICC Player of the Year awards, no no. The things Azam did... the crowd backed him, and he took their ownership. He was like, ‘I'm here to run the show."