'Let somebody else have a headache': David Lloyd backs Babar's resignation as Pakistan captain

New Delhi : Former England cricketer David Lloyd backs Babar Azam’s decision to relinquish Pakistan captaincy in all formats and said the 29-year-old should focus more on his batting.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) asked Babar to quit over the team's debacle in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup in India, which he accepted after meeting with chief selector Zaka Ashraf.

Lloyd highlighted captaincy's role on the field as the simpler aspect while dealing with the “political aspects” and fallout from defeats can be chaotic. “The easiest part (of captaincy) is changing the bowling and setting the field. All the political stuff when it comes off and post-mortem about the losses is chaotic,” Lloyd was quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

Babar’s struggle with the bat was one of the key aspects of Pakistan’s struggle to qualify for the semis. He managed to score 320 runs from nine matches scoring four fifties at an average of 40, but his strike rate of below 100 across matches came under scrutiny. “Babar Azam is one of the great players in the world at the minute. Just get on with playing and let somebody else have the headache,” he added.

Following Babar's resignation, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Shan Masood as the Test captain, while the role of T20I skipper went to pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.