The practice of Pakistan to alternate captains has always proven problematic. The assumption of leadership by Babar Azam, a prominent figure in contemporary cricket, appeared to signal the end of this. But the doubts surrounding the captaincy have returned since his resignation following Pakistan's sad November 2023 ODI World Cup loss, when they were unable to advance to the semi-finals. It appears that Babar Azam may soon make a spectacular comeback to leadership!
Reappointing Babar Azam as captain of the Twenty20 team is the PCB's decision, as per the suggestion of the recently established selection committee. Pakistan's Geo News on Friday quoted sources indicating that Babar will skipper the team again for the forthcoming five-match T20 series against New Zealand.
It is important to remember that the T20 World Cup is just two months away and that Babar's promotion to captain may also imply that the batsman would command the team for the third time at the major event.
Image Source: Twitter
This choice is a significant departure from the previous PCB leadership system, which was put in place under Zaka Ashraf and included Shaheen Afridi as the T20 captain. Under the previous administration, Shan Masood was tasked with captaining the red-ball team.
There have been rumours surrounding Shaheen Afridi's role as the T20I captain in reaction to this event. According to the same article, Shaheen may have considered resigning as captain.
Following his voluntary resignation as captain of all forms in November of last year, Babar Azam is reportedly back in the captaincy. Apart from the depressing outcome of the ODI World Cup, Babar's leadership qualities came under further criticism due to the team's unimpressive performances in competitions such as the Asia Cup.
Babar has come under fire for Pakistan's inability to win either the Asia Cup or ICC championships when he was captain. Under Babar's captaincy, the team notably failed to win a single home Test match in 2022; in T20 Internationals, the team lost in the semifinals of the 2021 T20 World Cup and advanced to the championship match the following year, losing to England.
| Format | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 52 | 94 | 3898 | 196 | 45.85 | 9 | 26 | 453 | 23 |
| ODIs | 117 | 114 | 5729 | 158 | 56.72 | 19 | 32 | 520 | 60 |
| T20Is | 109 | 103 | 3698 | 122 | 41.55 | 3 | 33 | 395 | 59 |
| FC | 89 | 149 | 5950 | 266 | 44.07 | 12 | 38 | 727 | 35 |
| List A | 181 | 177 | 8645 | 158 | 55.06 | 29 | 50 | 811 | 74 |
| T20s | 290 | 280 | 10495 | 122 | 44.28 | 11 | 87 | 1108 | 193 |
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Ave | 4w | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 52 | 8 | 90 | 42 | 2 | 21.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ODIs | 117 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| T20Is | 109 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| FC | 89 | 28 | 816 | 466 | 7 | 66.57 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| List A | 181 | 29 | 633 | 555 | 12 | 46.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T20s | 290 | 5 | 78 | 85 | 4 | 21.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The absence of communication with Shaheen Afridi has drawn criticism. Neither he nor any other authorities had received any communication from PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi on the talks.
Even though his team, Lahore Qalandars, failed miserably in defending their Pakistan Super League title in the recently concluded ninth season, Shaheen was instrumental in persuading Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim to come out of retirement to serve the country. This demonstrated that Shaheen was already planning for the T20 World Cup.
Also Read: What are the T20 record breaks in the SRH vs MI match in the IPL 2024?
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