PCB looking to bring Babar Azam back as captain amidst doubts over Masood and Afridi's leadership: Report
Babar Azam had stepped down as Pakistan's captain across all formats following his team's failure to advance past the group stage in the ODI World Cup held in India last year.
FollowThe Pakistan Cricket Board seems to have lost confidence in Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi's leadership abilities for the national side and reportedly believes that former captain Babar Azam is the most suitable candidate to resume captaincy. Babar had stepped down as Pakistan's captain across all formats following his team's failure to advance past the group stage in the ODI World Cup held in India last year.
Although Masood was appointed as the Test captain and Shaheen as the T20I skipper, a PTI report quoting sources within the PCB think-tank revealed that the board has concluded that, with no better alternatives available, Babar is the optimal choice to lead the team once again.
"The funny part is that the powers that be appear to have lost faith in Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi's ability to lead the national side in Test and T20 formats with the change in the board's chairmanship," a source told PTI.
The source also mentioned that what's intriguing is that Babar Azam is displaying a change in attitude.
"Feelers have been sent out to Babar to find out if he is ready to take charge again and he has shown some reservations. Apparently, he wants some assurances from the board chairman," the source told the news agency.
Following the World Cup, Babar was relieved of his captaincy duties in the white-ball format during Zaka Ashraf's tenure as PCB chairman. Subsequently, he chose to resign from his role as captain in red-ball cricket as well.
Babar had been serving as the captain across all formats since 2020, but his team's underwhelming performances in the Asia Cup and World Cup resulted in his removal from the leadership position.
"Shaheen, during Zaka's time, was seen as the saviour of Pakistan cricket as T20 captain as he had won two finals for Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League. But he now appears to have run out of favour very quickly with the change of guard in the board,” another source told PTI.
Shaheen not only suffered defeat in his maiden series as captain in New Zealand (1-4) but also witnessed Qalandars finishing at the bottom of the points table in this year's PSL.
The source further disclosed that the current chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, is heavily leaning on the counsel of former players when making crucial decisions.
Additionally, it has been decided that the chairman will meet with seasoned players like Imad Wasim and Muhammad Amir, who have returned from retirement, along with Babar, to address any potential misunderstandings.
