‘Dhoni changed India’s cricket but never…’: Amir lambasts Babar’s captaincy | Cricket

Babar Azam continues to remain the cynosure of Pakistan’s forgettable World Cup campaign where they finished fifth, thus missing out on a semifinal spot for the third time in a row. This was the first time Pakistan lost five matches in a single World Cup edition, four of which took place consecutively. Following the disappointing exit with a 93-run loss against England in Kolkata, Babar has been immensely criticised for his poor captaincy. He did receive a few amount of backing with former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja calling for a “change in the system” rather than the captain, but the veteran cricketer received a stern reply from Mohammad Amir in a fiery rant.

Speaking on a show ‘Haarana Mana Hay’ on Geo news, Amir launched a scathing attack on Ramiz, who had earlier taken to his YouTube channel to support Babar after Pakistan’s exit from World Cup, saying that captaincy matters more than what the members of the PCB management comprises of. He strengthened his notion with examples of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup win under Imran Khan, 2009 T20 World Cup victory and win over India in 2017 Champions Trophy final.

“Captaincy does matter. What is the system? It is not a wall. Five and six people have been given responsibility to run the Pakistan cricket. A captain is also one of them. In 1992 under Imran Khan, we won the World Cup, the system was same. In 1999 our team was a world beater, who reached the finals. We won the 2009 T20 World Cup with the same system, we won the 2017 Champions Trophy under same system,” said Amir.

The veteran Pakistan fast bowler further cited the example of how England managed to bounce back from a horrible 2015 World Cup exit to win the trophy in 2019 under Eoin Morgan before highlighting their new approach in red-ball cricket as well under Ben Stokes.

“Babar is captain for past four years. He has build his team on his own. Buttler is not part of our system, then why did England played so badly? Does the system in England also need a makeover? After 2015 debacle, Morgan said I want to play this brand of cricket, I want these 25 players. System remained the same, it is the captain, who changed his mindset. England were struggling in Test cricket for two years. Joe Root was the captain. System is same but we say England’s Test cricket has changed. It was Ben Stokes, who changed his approach.

“As long as captain’s mindset will not change, system can do nothing. Was it the system, who told him not to play Abrar Ahmad, or bench Fakhar after first match,” Amir added.

In a bid to explain his point on the impact of a good captain, Amir did not miss out on the legendary MS Dhoni and his role in Ravindra Jadeja turning out to be one of the leading all-rounders across formats.

“We say Dhoni changed India’s cricket, but he never changed the system. People kept saying that for how long will he keep giving Jadeja and Ashwin chances. And now we say Jadeja is World’s best all-rounder. MS Dhoni has given them the team,” said Amir.