Babar Azam stepped down as Pakistan’s captain following the team’s failure to advance to the ODI World Cup 2023 semifinals. After Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi were named the new captains of the Test and Twenty20 cricket teams, respectively, he received harsh criticism from a number of former cricket players. But the new think tank was unimpressed with both of the new leaders, so they turned back to Babar when they wanted to assume captaincy once more.
The star batter has set some rules ahead of time, including having a say in the incoming head coach’s selection. Additionally, the 29-year-old told the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that he aspires to captain the national squad in each of the game’s three formats. His demands, however, have not been granted because the national selection committee is now split on the matter.
Some members of the committee are opposed to Babar Azam having total control because they prefer Shaheen Shah Afridi to remain the captain of the Twenty20 cricket team.
The other half of the committee was compelled to reconsider their attitude, particularly in light of the impending T20 World Cup, after Pakistan’s 4-1 loss against New Zealand under Afridi’s direction. However, there are many people who support Afridi and want him to captain the team against the Kiwis at home.
“Ascending Shaheen Shah Afridi to captain for the home T20 series against New Zealand in April and giving him an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities is the best thing, some members of the selection committee now feel,” The Hindu cited an informed source as saying.
Interestingly, Mohsin Naqvi, the head of the PCB, isn’t willing to wait and has requested that Babar and the selection committee meet in order to persuade him to take the white-ball captaincy. But Naqvi is prepared to have a talk later on; he isn’t prepared to challenge the batter to be red-ball captain just yet.
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The source continued, “They made their views known to the PCB chief and have now asked him to make a final decision. Naqvi has instructed them to persuade Babar to accept the white ball captaincy for the time being and the board will take a call on the red ball captaincy after the T20 World Cup.”
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