Former Pakistani Skipper, Rashid Latif feels that for Babar Azam to be a successful skipper in all three formats, he would have to learn how Virat Kohli was handed responsibilities as a skipper. Virat Kohli started his captaincy duty after World Cup winning skipper MS Dhoni retired from Test and later he gradually took on the captaincy in ODIs and T20s. Rashid Latif is impressed that current Pakistan captain– Babar Azam is slowly transforming himself into a leader like Indian skipper Virat Kohli has done over the years.
Rashid Latif Stats Babar Azam To Become A Leader Like Virat Kohli Than Just Being Captain Of Team
Virat Kohli, who is regarded as the best batsman currently in the world averaging over 50 across all three formats, was handed over the Test captaincy in 2014. In early 2017, he became the limited-overs captain as well. In ODIs, he has the second-highest number of centuries and the highest number of centuries in run-chases in the world. MS Dhoni wanted someone to take captaincy under his radar while he plays and learn everything from it and build on to the next generation.
Rashid told a Pakistani YouTube channel, “I think Babar has to become a leader like Virat rather than just being a captain of the team,”
Virat has developed into a leader and in cricket and sports, when you are made the captain, you have to become a leader,” Latif said.
“…and by that, I mean you have to be respected on and off the field. You have to stand up for your players and you have to take the hard and out of box decisions,” he said.
“You look at Virat today and he is a complete leader and his stature as a batsman has also helped a lot. But you can see in the attitude of the Indian team and their selection, Virat has his say in everything,” he added.
“I think Babar is also on the right path and I felt he had his input in the squad selected for the New Zealand tour. I think Babar because of his exceptional batting talents has the makings of a good leader.
“He may seem meek and an introvert but he is mentally very strong and has game awareness and you can see this in his batting”
