Want to adopt the Imran Khan style of captaincy, says Babar Azam

Sports Tuesday 19/May/2020 16:53 PM
By: Times News Service
Want to adopt the Imran Khan style of captaincy, says Babar Azam

Islamabad: New Pakistan ODI captain Babar Azam wants to adopt the captaincy style of Imran Khan, who led the country to the 1992 World Cup title.
Having been recently handed the reins of the ODI side in addition to T20I leadership, which he took over in later 2019, Azam has already set himself targets. Top on his priority list is to help Pakistan scale back up the ODI charts after they slipped to No.6 in the annual update to the MRF Tyres ICC Team Rankings.
"I've captained the U19 as well as the T20I team in the past," Azam reflected during a media interaction. "When I look at our rankings in the formats, it is not acceptable for me and my task is to bring that up to the top three. PCB thought I was ready (for the job) and they gave it to me. I'm ready."
The 25-year-old is the No.1 ranked batsman in the MRF Tyres ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings for batting, sits at No.3 position in ODIs and No.5 in Tests. Azam is confident that the added responsibility of captaincy will not have an effect on his batting performance.
"I'm a fan of challenges," he said. "Captaincy and batting are a little different. When you are batting, you are just focussing on batting and not thinking about captaincy. It's only when you are done with batting that you start thinking about team performance. My aim is to continue performing the same way even as captain."