WATCH: Imad Wasim advices Babar Azam to step down ‘gracefully’ after ODI World Cup 2023 debacle

Discarded Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim has asked his national team-mate and current skipper Babar Azam to step down as captain. The team is on the verge of being knocked out of the semis race. The 1992 winners needed to beat England by 287 runs or chase down the target in 16 balls. Neither of the scenarios is likely to take place and the team is set to return disappointed.

Ahead of the game, the calls for Azam to step down have started heating up again. Ahead of the tournament, a leading media house, that also owns Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League, had raised a question about the right-hander’s captaincy future ahead of the tournament. However, the team had a good start after winning two games on the trot.

After this, things went down badly after losing against arch-rivals India, Australia, Afghanistan, and South Africa. After the four back-to-back losses, the Green Brigade not only needed to win but also remained dependent on others. However, with the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka match going in the favor of the Blackcaps by a massive margin, the Asian side’s chances were pretty much gone.

Meanwhile, with the former champions set to return home without playing the semis, Wasim, who was part of the team during the 2017 Champions Trophy win with Azam has asked his teammate to step down as captain.

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Babar Azam’s captaincy in major tournaments

The Lahore player’s first major captaincy stint was the T20 World Cup 2021. In the tournament, the team stormed into the semis without losing a game. They lost to the eventual champions, Australia in the semis. The next year, they needed the Netherlands to beat South Africa to have a real chance of reaching the semis.

In the Asia Cups 2022 and 2023, the team finished in the final and missed out on the summit respectively.