Former wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif urged Pakistan’s white-ball captain Babar Azam to learn from India’s Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 match between the arch-rivals, which is to be played on June 9 in New York.
This will be Babar’s third T20 World Cup with Pakistan as a captain and under his captaincy, the Green Shirts managed to make it to the semi-final in 2021 and final in 2022 where they lost to Australia and England respectively.
Rashid believed that, as a captain, Babar has a long way to go as he still needs to learn how to handle the pressure as the match against India will invite much more pressure than performing in the World Cup.
“The focus is on the game on June 9 against India. Babar (Pakistan captain) will be under a lot of pressure because of the game against India rather than performing in the World Cup," Latif told the Press Trust of India (PTI).
"But he has to learn to carry pressure, he should learn that from Virat and Rohit. They know how to carry the game. As a batter, Babar is one of the best but as a captain and leader, there's a lot that he needs to learn," he added.
Pakistan and India have locked horns in T20 World seven times and the Blues boast a formidable record of six victories. The Green Shirts only managed to beat India in the 2021 T20 World Cup as they dominated the arch-rivals and recorded a historic 10-wicket win as Mohammad Rizwan and Azam chased down the 152-run without losing a wicket in 17.5 overs.
Latif also talked about the ongoing problems in the Pakistani team saying that they don’t look as prepared as the previous editions due to the change in captaincy after the ODI World Cup 2023.
"The Pakistan team plays well in the ICC tournaments but the team doesn't look as prepared as they were in 2021 and 2022. The damage happened after the last ODI World Cup with changes in captaincy, the selection committee, and players," he explained.
"The team doesn't know who their openers will be and what they have tried has failed miserably."
