It’s kinda difficult to stay away from the limelight when you are Babar Azam. It’s a boon on most days as players of Babar’s quality are amongst the runs more often than not, but things are a bit different when there is an unusual lean patch. The scrutiny gets tighter, and the same fans who could not stop singing praises suddenly take the shape of faceless trolls. It’s no different for Babar Azam.
As the Pakistan white-ball captain struggles to conjure runs with the same consistency expected from him, whatever he does, seems to be going against him. Take the recent viral video of Pakistan’s training session, for example.
Babar Azam, who was practising in shorts, failed to find his trousers on time and had to resort to using a towel while joining the rest of his teammates for a routine prayer.
While the rest of the Pakistan players lined up for the prayer, Babar was seen desperately searching for his trousers, but when he couldn’t find it, he picked up a towel and wrapped it around his waist. However, the crowd present on the ground took the incident sportingly. They cheered for Babar as soon as he finished his prayers.
Needless to say, photos and visuals of the same went viral instantly.
No threat to Babar’s captaincy
Babar Azam was sacked from white ball captaincy after the 2023 ODI World Cup round-robin exit in India, and his replacement, Shaheen Shah Afridi, was removed after one bad series.
Similarly in Tests, after Babar resigned, Shan Masood was named captain but after 0-2 Test series defeat to Bangladesh, there are calls for his immediate ouster. A PCB source however told PTI that recent media speculations about Masood and Babar’s sacking is nothing more than kite flying.
“There has been no discussion on changing the captains as the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has left it up to the two coaches and selectors to decide on the captaincy,” he said.
“And Kirsten and Gillespie are very clear that Shan and Babar both need to be given a proper run before judging their leadership abilities,” the source added.
He said that both coaches wanted continuity in captaincy and have conveyed this to the board very clearly.
He also made it clear that the captaincy or team selections would not be up for discussion when the board holds its one-day workshop titled cricket connection later this month in Lahore.
“That workshop is being held to hear the views of all stakeholders, mainly the domestic team coaches, selectors and contracted players so that the board is able to bridge the gap between domestic cricket and international cricket standards,” he said.
Pakistan suffered a shocking whitewash at home against Bangladesh. Their next assignment will be a three-match Test series at home against England before touring Australia for a limited overs series under Babar’s captaincy.
