KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has named star batsman Babar Azam as one of the best leaders among the country’s current international players.
Azhar, speaking on a local news channel’s Eid special, was asked to pick the best captain from a panel consisting of Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam.
“Babar,” replied Azhar.
During the same programme, Azhar also addressed the comments made by Akib Javed, director of the Center for High Performance, in a recent press conference.
The former player advised Javed to focus on his main objectives especially the development of national academies.
Azhar’s comments come amid discussions about leadership within Pakistan cricket following the team’s disappointment in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Notably, Babar first took over as the white-ball captain in 2019 and was appointed Test captain in 2020.
He became Pakistan’s most successful T20I captain, scoring 48 wins in 85 matches and surpassing Sarbaraz Ahmed’s record. Under his leadership, Pakistan advanced to the T20 World Cup finals in 2022.
In ODIs, he oversaw the team’s promotion to the No. 1 ranking for the first time in 33 years after a series win over New Zealand in May 2023.
Babur led from the front with the bat, becoming the first T20I captain to score three centuries in the format.
Following the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, the Pakistan Cricket Board removed him as captain for all formats. Shaheen Shah Afridi was named the T20 captain and Shaun Masood for the Test team.
Shaheen led the team in just one series – a five-match T20I against New Zealand in January 2024 – which Pakistan lost 4-1, raising doubts about his leadership abilities.
Babar was again appointed white-ball captain ahead of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.