Former Pakistan captain questions Babar Azam’s leadership credentials

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has shared a candid assessment of Babar Azam’s leadership, questioning whether the star batter was ever a natural leader.

Speaking in a recent interview on a local sports platform, Butt, when asked whether Babar was a born leader, argued that Pakistan’s progress to tournament finals under him was not the result of his captaincy skills.

“I don’t think so,” Butt said. “I’ve been very clear from the time he became captain. Fair enough, he made it to the [T20 World Cup 2022] final and then the Asia Cup final, but it wasn’t his leadership that took us there."

"South Africa lost to the Netherlands — there was no magic done by our captain in that World Cup in Australia. It wasn’t his brilliance. Leaders are those who have their backups ready,” he added.

When asked which player he sees as a potential T20I captain, given that Salman Agha currently holds the role, the left-handed batter admitted that his insight is limited.

“I haven’t stayed connected with these cricketing circles, and I haven’t shared the dressing room with them. Neither am I very close to them. So, all I have to judge is their on-field behaviour in front of me,” he explained.

The former opener also addressed the possibility of Shadab Khan stepping up from his long-standing role as vice-captain.

“There are so many vice-captains in Pakistan who remained vice-captains while the captains kept changing,” Butt noted. “He is still standing there while the captain keeps changing. I think we are the only nation that follows such a process — it has a history, and it just continues like this.”

Highlighting what he believes true leadership entails, Butt took a swipe at overly data-driven approaches.

“You can’t have a captain who goes onto the pitch and says, ‘The statistician will tell me what happened in the last 10 matches, and after winning the toss, I’ll decide whether to bat first or chase based on those numbers,’” he said.

“These are not historic decisions. It’s about making the right call that day, on that pitch,” he added.

In T20 cricket, Babar has been Pakistan’s most-capped captain, leading the side in 85 matches with 48 wins and 29 losses. He also holds the record for the most T20I fifties (36) and is Pakistan’s only batter with three centuries in the format.

However, his captaincy journey has been far from smooth. Following a disappointing ICC World Cup campaign in 2023, Babar stepped down from leadership across all formats.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) subsequently appointed Shaheen Shah Afridi as T20 captain and Shan Masood to lead the Test side.

Babar was reinstated as white-ball captain in 2024, but Pakistan’s lackluster performance in that year’s ICC T20 World Cup led to his removal once again, with Mohammad Rizwan taking over.

The struggles extended to his personal form, putting his place in the national team at risk. He was left out of two consecutive T20I series, first against New Zealand in March 2025 and then against Bangladesh. 

His last T20I appearance came in December 2024 against South Africa.