Babar Azam could foresee himself being removed from his position as the national team’s white-ball captain. It is suggested that Mohammad Rizwan should take over the position in all formats of cricket.
According to a report by Geo News, there are still hopes for Rizwan’s take-over of the captaincy. He was not the designated skipper during the Champions One-Day Cup which could mean that he will not be leading again in future.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced five teams were formed for domestic tournament. Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Haris and Saud Shakeel will serve as captains for these teams.
Reports say that Gary Kirsten who is currently head coach for Pakistan’s white-ball has already met some of the PCB officials and Azam himself about it in July. On top of this, it is possible to appoint Rizwan as skipper for Pakistan across three formats.
On the thirty-first March Azam was again named as the limited-overs captain even after he had resigned from the position due to Pakistan’s poor performance in the ODI World Cup 2023.
However, he could not manage to remain in charge when Pakistan stumbled again at the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024 held in West Indies and United States of America. They did not even reach the knockout phase despite possessing a relatively formidable squad during both ODI and T20 World Cups.
On top of that, Bangladesh also swept past them clean without dropping any matches during a Test series played within their own fields. Azam’s batting form can be said to have put him under more strain because it is at its lowest ebb since he started playing cricket.
The situation becomes even more worrisome as players and officials from the cricket board are expected to initiate total transformation so that they can once again perform optimally just like before due to continued poor performance from Pakistan cricket sources.