With Pakistan cricket team bowing out of the Cricket World Cup without making an impact, the next big question for the side is the Babar Azam‘s captaincy. There have been several reports on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) top brass rethinking about Babar Azam’s captaincy. Former PCB chief Ramiz Raja has said that he met with Babar Azam ahead of the match against England in Kolkata. The former Pakistan cricket team captain revealed that Babar Azam was not really upbeat.
“I met Babar yesterday. He was very down. The players are under massive media glare. Things can be cold and ruthless. I don’t know whether he wants to lead Pakistan. I think he will make a call once he lands in Pakistan. More than Babar Azam leading them, it’s more about how this team wants to be led. What about the system, how do they approach the white ball cricket? What are the fault-lines, where are they so irrelevant at times,” Rameez Raja said on Star Sports.
According to a report by news agency PTI, Babar Azam has been advised against putting in his papers by his national teammates even as he has rested case with the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by Zaka Ashraf to take a call on his future. Pakistan finished fifth in 10 team table and missed out on semi-final qualification, leading to a lot of criticism from former players, who has sought a change in leadership.
“Babar has already spoken to his teammates, and majority of them advised him not to step down himself. He will come out with a clear line of action once he returns home with the team after failing to make the semi-finals of the World Cup in India. But, he will not step down himself,” a PCB source told PTI.
Babar has a strong following in the team and likes of Imam ul Haq, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf are players considered to be close to the Pakistan skipper.
In fact, last year when there were talks about removing Babar from Test captaincy had gained traction on social media, some of the players had then taken to social media to show their solidarity with a hashtag “Sochna Bhi Mana Hai” (Don’t even harbour such thoughts).
With Pakistan facing two challenging tours – to Australia and New Zealand – shortly after the World Cup, Babar is wants to continue as the national skipper across formats.
“He will most probably leave the decision of whether he should remain captain or not up to the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by Zaka Ashraf,” a well-informed source close to the skipper said.
Babar was first named the white-ball captain for the ‘Green Shirts’ in late 2019 after the World Cup in England (where they failed to make it to the semi-finals), replacing Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Besides, he was also appointed Test captain in 2021, taking over the reins from Azhar Ali.
But, while Babar has enjoyed success in T20 Internationals, leading his team to the finals of the Asia Cup T20 and the T20 World Cup last year, his record in Tests and ODIs has been far from impressive.
With PTI inputs
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