After Pakistan didn’t make it to the ODI World Cup semi-finals in 2023, Babar Azam stepped down as the team’s captain. Many former cricket players criticized him for this. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood were made captains for the T20I and Test teams, but they didn’t do well. Now, the cricket team’s management wants Babar Azam to be the captain again.
Babar Azam has some conditions before he agrees. He wants a say in choosing the new head coach, and he wants to lead the team in all three formats of cricket. But the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hasn’t agreed to his demands yet because the selection committee can’t agree. Some members of the committee don’t want to give Babar all the power.
They think Shaheen Shah Afridi should stay as the T20I captain. But Pakistan lost to New Zealand under Afridi’s leadership, so others in the committee are reconsidering. They think a change might be needed, especially with the T20 World Cup coming up. But some still support Afridi and want him to lead the team against New Zealand in the upcoming home series.
The Strategic importance behind this decision
“Some members of the selection committee now feel the best thing is to let Shaheen Shah Afridi continue as captain for the home T20 series against New Zealand in April and give him a chance to prove his credentials,” one well-informed source was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
They made their opinions clear to the PCB chief and have now asked him to make a final call.
“Naqvi has told them to convince Babar to accept the white ball captaincy for now and the Board will take a call on the red ball captaincy after the T20 World Cup,” the source added.
Surprisingly, the head of the PCB, Mohsin Naqvi, doesn’t want to wait. He wants the selection committee to talk to Babar and persuade him to be the captain for white-ball cricket. But Naqvi isn’t pushing for Babar to be the captain for red-ball cricket yet. He’s open to discussing it later.
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