‘Were you here to sell chickpeas?’ Wasim Akram questions Babar’s captaincy
Pakistan legend says Babar should have refused Test captaincy in second stint
Pakistan cricket is rarely short of drama.
And after a disastrous 3-0 Test series defeat in England, Wasim Akram has now asked a rather brutal question of captain Babar Azam.
Were you here to sell chickpeas?
The Pakistan legend was speaking alongside former fast bowler Waqar Younis at a charity fundraising event in Manchester when the conversation turned towards Babar and everything that happened during Pakistan’s tour of England.
Akram believes Babar should never have accepted the Test captaincy for a second time.
“I do not want to blame anyone, and I could be wrong as well,” Akram said. “But in my opinion, Babar should not have taken the captaincy. All of this was unnecessary.”
‘Were you here to sell chickpeas?’
What particularly frustrated Akram was Babar’s response after the Pakistan Cricket Board made sweeping changes following the second Test defeat at Lord’s.
Seven players were dropped from the touring squad and sent home, while changes were also made to the coaching staff.
Ahead of the final Test at Edgbaston, Babar said the changes were news to him as well.
Akram was not impressed.
“Babar Azam said he did not know. If you don’t know, then what were you doing here? Were you here to sell chickpeas?”
Akram also questioned how players could give everything if they did not feel their captain was standing behind them.
“As a player or as a person, I believe that if your leader or captain does not stand by you, you cannot give 100%,” he said.
Akram believes Babar should have made a very different decision after the defeat at Lord’s.
“My suggestion is that after the second Test, Babar should have said that he would play only as a player,” he said.
Babar’s difficult return as captain
Babar returned as Pakistan’s Test captain in July, replacing Shan Masood after previously leading the side from 2020 to 2023.
Pakistan began his second spell with a 1-1 series draw in the West Indies before travelling to England.
What followed was painful.
England won the opening Test at Headingley by an innings and 103 runs before completing a 194 run victory at Lord’s.
The PCB responded with major changes, but Pakistan were unable to turn things around.
England won the third Test at Edgbaston by eight wickets to complete a 3-0 whitewash.
And Akram clearly believes Babar would have been better off going through all that drama as a player rather than as the man wearing the captain’s armband.
