Former Test cricketer Sikander Bakht believes that running negative social media trends will ultimately hurt players.
In a conversation with GeoSuper.tv following the trends in favour of Pakistani captain Babar Azam and against Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) head Najam Sethi, Bakht called out players' agents.
"It is all happening in 'Naya Pakistan'," said the cricketer-turned-analyst. "These are the agents of players who are behind these negative social media campaigns. This is all happening just like it happens in politics. But, this is cricket and the team is of Pakistan. You can't boss Pakistan team," he took a dig.
Soon after PCB management committee chairman Sethi made comments about Babar's captaincy future in one of his recent interviews, #BabarAzamisourredline and #StayinyoulimitsNajamSethi started trending on twitter.
In this regard, Bakht gave examples of how great Indian batters Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli left captaincy after not so good record.
"You [Babar] are a world-class batter but there are faults in your captaincy. In India, players like Tendulkar and Kohli left captaincy because they couldn't do well," he highlighted.
"You work on your flaws. Running negative social media trends will hurt players," he added.
Babar was rested during Afghanistan T20I series which also sparked outrage on social media. In his absence, Shadab Khan led the an inexperienced side that lost three-match series 2-1.
Sethi, in his latest interview, said as long as Babar leads Pakistan to victory as captain, he will remain there in his position. He also shared that potential upcoming national team director Mickey Arthur will also decide captaincy future.
"Mickey has all the right to do it. If you are bringing some one as team director, give him the authority then. Let him decide,
Players need to focus on their game. There is no need of running such campaigns. I already said that Babar is a scripted captain. He needs to learn a lot,
"I believe Babar should give up captaincy and let PCB decide. He needs to focus on his batting as he can do wonders there," he concluded.