"If Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli can change their approach in T20Is, then why can't Babar Azam?"- Rashid Latif slams Pakistan star over batting style

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif has slammed current skipper Babar Azam for the inability to change his batting approach in T20Is. He pointed to and hailed Indian stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for evolving with time and changing to a more attacking style.

Babar is the third leading scorer in T20Is with 4,145 runs at an average of 41.03 in 123 games. However, his strike rate remains under 130 compared to the top two leading T20I scorers, Rohit and Kohli, at 140.89 and 137.04, respectively.

After the culmination of the 2024 T20 World Cup, Latif said on a YouTube channel as quoted by Times Now:

"If Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli can change their approach in T20Is, then why can't Babar Azam? I would like to cite Rohit Sharma's example. You saw how he evolved his game in the 50-over format. He has made himself a role model. In this year's IPL, he had close to 140 strike rate. If he can change his game, everyone can. He did not do this overnight, he had to work on his game. India showed they can do this. This is not a problem of the player but a problem of the ones who make them play."

Latif further believed the management should provide Babar and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan five games to change their batting approach in the shortest format.

"I would give Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan five amatches to change their batting approach in T20Is and if they won't, then there should be no place in the team for them," stated Latif.

While India won their second T20 World Cup title, Pakistan were dumped out of the tournament after the group stages where they suffered an embarrassing loss to the USA.

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"Babar's second tenure as captain was weak" - Rashid Latif

Rashid Latif further bemoaned Babar Azam for his abysmal captaincy in the recently concluded T20 World Cup.

The 29-year-old relinquished captaincy after the 2023 ODI World Cup but was reinstated in the white-ball formats ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.

"Babar Azam shouldn't have been removed as captain after the ODI World Cup in India. Shaheen came in to replace him. But Babar's second tenure as captain was weak. Babar looked weak. This is not the way team selection should be done. Babar didn't fight ( in the T20 World Cup). His biggest mistake was accepting the captaincy again. If he continues as captain, it will be an even bigger mistake," Latif was quoted as saying by TOI.

Babar captained Pakistan to semi-final and final runs in the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups.

However, they failed to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-final and the 2024 T20 World Cup Super Eights under his leadership.