Pakistan white-ball captain Babar Azam has been struggling for the form of late and the noise has been from all corners. Babar has gone without scoring a fifty in two back-to-back assignments, T20 World Cup and the Bangladesh Test series with his last half-century coming in May against Ireland. Since Pakistan couldn'tgo past the group stage in the T20 World Cup, his captaincy is also under dark clouds and former cricketer Younis Khan has advised him to focus on performances rather than captaincy and leadership.
Younis gave Virat Kohli's example saying that the Indian superstar has been in tremendous since leaving captaincy and that Babar might learn from him. "There are high expectations from Babar. Players should use social media wisely, but their real answers should come through their performances with the bat and ball. He (Babar) needs to focus on his fitness and work ethic because opportunities like these don't come around often,” Younis said at the press conference for Karachi Premier League.
"He has achieved a lot at such a young age, but what he needs to know what he wants to achieve in the future. Captaincy is a small thing, performance is what matters. Look at Virat Kohli. He chose to step down from captaincy on his own terms, and now he’s breaking records worldwide. This shows that playing for the country should be the priority. If there’s any energy left, then play for yourself," he added.
Babar returned scores of 31, 22, 0 and 11 in four innings against Bangladesh while many labelled his poor returns in the T20 World Cup as one of the major reasons for Pakistan's lacklustre performance in the tournament. Kohli, on the other hand, has gotten past his dry run in 2022 following leaving the captaincy across all three formats for India, and is amid a sensational run.
Younis said that he has observed many Pakistani players talk more than they perform and just performing and helping their side win games of cricket should be their main focus.
"The only suggestion I have for Babar is that he should focus on his cricket. He should up his performance. Babar Azam was made the captain because he was the best player at the time. I was there when the decision was made that the team’s best player should be the captain," Younis said during an event in Pakistan. “If Babar and other top players deliver on the field, then results will be clear to everyone. I have observed that our players tend to talk more than they perform," he added.
