Babar Azam has been snubbed by the Pakistan Cricket Board, who didn’t appoint him as one of the captains for the upcoming Champions One Day Cup. According to reports, the batter’s leadership has been put under the scanner, and is expected to be removed as Pakistan’s white-ball captain.
According to reports, a new Pakistan captain will be appointed for Pakistan’s upcoming tour of Australia, which will also consist of three T20Is and as many ODIs.
Who will replace Babar Azam?
Reportedly, white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten has already had discussions with PCB officials in July, and Mohammad Rizwan is being tipped as Babar’s successor as white-ball skipper, and as captain of all three formats in the future.
Babar has been in poor form lately, especially in Test cricket. During the Test series vs Bangladesh, he was dismissed for a duck and registered only 22 runs in the first Test. Meanwhile in the second Test, he managed to register only 31 and 11 in both innings.
Saud Shakeel, who is Pakistan’s Test vice-captain, has been named as one of the skippers for the Champions One Day Cup, alongwith Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Haris and Rizwan.
After the Test series defeat vs Bangladesh, the Pakistan dressing room has also been accused of being divided. Former PCB chief Zaka Ashraf commented on the issue recently and said, “There were no differences between Babar Azam or Shaheen even after I decided to have the latter as the T20 captain. No, the unity didn’t end (after removing Babar Azam as captain). In fact, the unity improved. When we told him to play as a player, which is his talent, but as a captain, his performance is not good, he agreed.”
Commenting on Muhammad Hafeez’s role as team director, he stated, “Hafeez is “a very honest man” and no, there was no grouping. The team was good. And, we brought Shan Masood as the captain.”
