Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif lambasted current Test skipper Babar Azam for failing to stand up as a leader amid the major mid-series squad reshuffle that has occurred within the team in England late last week.
Following a harrowing 194-run defeat to England in the second Test at Lord’s, Pakistan have sent back seven players and also removed head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul.
Latif slammed Babar for failing to take a stand for his side and labelled him a “dummy captain”.
Pakistan’s woes have deepened in England with four successive failures with the bat across the two Tests. Babar, who returned as Test captain last month replacing Shan Masood, missed the first Test due to injury. He registered scores of eight and six in the second Test last week.
“Babar should have resigned here. Half of the team has been sent back home. If I were in his place, I would have given up the captaincy. You have become a dummy captain. There’s a difference between a leader and a captain,” said Latif on his YouTube channel.
‘If I were in his place…’
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) then recalled seven players — Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad — besides coaches Ahmed and Gul.
Mike Hesson, already Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, will take over the Test side for the rest of the tour, with Ashley Noffke as his bowling coach. Five uncapped players have been added, along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal, whose combined Test experience runs to 10 matches, ahead of the Edgbaston Test starting next week.
“You have sent seven players back. Imam, I understand, was injured. But still, you are sending six players back. You sent back your coach, your mentor. The coach who won the Champions Trophy. You sent Umar Gul back. You aren’t standing up for your team. Your coach has been sidelined, and you are sitting quietly. It shows that the PCB always needs a dummy captain,” Latif added.
The Lord’s defeat was their 15th loss in 20 Tests, and their tenth away defeat in 11 games. Pakistan are yet to reach 200 in any innings this series; their closest attempt was Saud Shakeel’s 97 at Lord’s.