Former Pakistan pacer Junaid Khan criticized Babar Azam's captaincy. After Babar left the captaincy, many people who stood by him said that under Babar's leadership, Pakistan rose to the top of the ODI rankings. However, Junaid, the former cricketer of the country, is unwilling to give credit to Babar for this achievement.

Babar stepped down from the captaincy of all formats after a meeting with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management committee chairman Zaka Ashraf on November 15. The PCB then appointed Shan Masood as the Test captain of the Pakistan men's cricket team and Shaheen Shah Afridi as the T20 captain.

The former pacer questioned the credibility of Babar's achievements as a captain, especially in the ODI format. In a recent podcast with a local YouTube channel, Azam took the opportunity to analyze his leadership skills, saying Babar failed to thrive in his role as captain. Babar is not credited with getting the team to the top of the ranking.

Junaid said, “People say we become ODI No 1 team under Babar Azam’s captaincy. But we became No 1 by playing against weak teams. Babar is not a quick learner. He is a world class batter but his captaincy was not up to the mark.”

“Babar had not improved as a captain. If you see Saifi bhai (Sarfaraz Ahmed), he kept improving day by day. We won the Champions Trophy under his leadership, become World No 1 in the T20Is,” Junaid was quoted as saying on the Nadir Ali podcast.

Pointing to players like Pat Cummins and Virat Kohli, the former left-arm pacer emphasized the importance of aggression and leading by example, compared to international captains who have tasted success.

Junaid further said, “Look at Pat Cummins, he won the ODI World Cup for Australia. He is aggressive, he walks the talk.”