The coach cum chief selector of the Pakistan cricket team Misbah ul Haq has said that captaincy has made star batsman Babar Azam more responsible.
Misbah ul Haq was quoted as saying this by Stats Perform News report. The former Pakistan skipper reasoned that Azam’s top batting form was ideal as he would be able to lead by example.
“The way I look at it, being a top batsman he is best suited to lead the team by example and this would make it easier for him to also take strong decisions and for the team to follow him,” said Misbah.
Misbah further said that the decision to grant Azam captaincy in the ODI format was after an assessment showed that the batting star successfully juggled T20 captaincy along with consistent batting.
He added that Azam’s new role was a blessing in disguise as it improved his own form.
“Making Babar captain of the T20 team last year was a tester really. We wanted to see how he will respond to the challenge and how it will affect his batting,” he said.
“But all of us agreed that he handled the pressure well and if anything the responsibility of being captain only made him show more responsibility as a batsman,” he added.