After star batter Babar Azam stepped down from White-ball captaincy once again, Pakistan Cricket will be looking for a replacement for the skipper for the tour of Australia in November.
Pakistan Cricket has found itself in a tough spot and feels like got stuck in an infinite loop in the last couple of years.
Babar Azam has decided to drop the news that very few could have predicted. For the second time in 12 months, Babar has backed down from the captaincy.
Back in November 2023, he resigned the captaincy from all three formats. This time, he called it a day from limited-overs cricket. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s test cricket is not at the top either.
Dear Fans,
I’m sharing some news with you today. I have decided to resign as captain of the Pakistan men’s cricket team, effective as of my notification to the PCB and Team Management last month.
It’s been an honour to lead this team, but it’s time for me to step down and focus…
— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) October 1, 2024
Shan Masood has also been struggling with the captaincy as the side tasted defeat in all five tests as skipper after Babar Azam.
His test captaincy will be doubted if Pakistan slump to defeat in their upcoming series against England. But for now, Pakistan is again in a dilemma about appointing a Pakistan White ball captain.
Pakistan chief Mohsin Naqvi has been backing Babar Azam and reappointed him as the skipper earlier this year. But Babar was named as the captain for Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 where the side failed again as they were knocked out to make their way beyond the group stage.
Players who could replace Babar Azam?
Pakistan do not have a lot of options for the captaincy with their ODI series in Australia starting on November 04 with the T20Is from November 14. From the current players, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Rizwan are the potential candidates.
Shaheen has replaced Babar Azam as the T20I captain after leading Lahore Qalandars to win in PSL. But after a defeat in the series against New Zealand, Babar Azam was recalled to take charge.
Shadab Khan has been also impressive with leadership skills for Multan Sultans in the PSL. Although not leading the side in ODIs and T20Is, he has captained the side for two tests against New Zealand in 2020-21.
Babar Azam has an average of 44.51 on Tests, 56.72 in ODIs and 41.03 in T20Is. Once touted as the World’s best, Babar Azam has gone off the heat quite a bit.
Unlike Pat Cummins, Rohit Sharma, Ben Stokes and others, captaincy, hasn’t brought the best out of him as a captain.
Pakistan is set to play a three-match ODI and T20I series against Australia starting in November. The first ODI match of the Australia tour will be played on November 04 at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
