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Babar Azam set to be sacked as Pakistan captain across formats, replacement revealed

The development comes after Azam-led Pakistan didn’t qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup 2023

November 15, 2023

Babar Azam leads Pakistan in all formats of the game. - Reuters

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to strip Babar Azam of captaincy from all formats, sources told Geo News Tuesday night, ending his years-long stint in the leading position.

The development comes after Babar-led Pakistan didn’t qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup 2023 in India.

The sources said if Babar decides to submit his resignation, the board would accept it, otherwise, PCB will sack him from the post.

They added that Shan Masood is a strong candidate for the captain's slot in the upcoming Test series against Australia and Shaheen Shah Afridi for the T20I series in New Zealand.

Shaheen might also lead the Green Shirts in next year's T20 World Cup, the sources said.

Babar was appointed white-ball captain in 2019 and as Test skipper in 2020, but the Green Shirts have not won any ICC or Asia Cup titles under his leadership.

Although, the Pakistan team went into the World Cup ranked as the top side, they failed to prove their mettle and crashed out of the tournament in the group stage.

Throwing his support behind "depressed" Babar after the Green Shirts’ failure in the World Cup, the team’s director Mickey Arthur had said that it's not a "crime to make mistakes".

The skipper is scheduled to meet PCB Management Committee Chairman Zaka Ashraf later today and it is expected that an announcement related to his captaincy will be made after it.

Syed Yahya Hussaini

Comments

Abu Yussef Shukri commented 6 months ago

Based on his performances in Asia Cup and World Cup, does Shaheen even merit a slot in the playing eleven?

Adam Ayub commented 6 months ago

Let them sack you Babar

Ibrahim commented 6 months ago

I dont accept Shan masood as Test captain and Afridi can lead the team

Mazhar commented 6 months ago

Shaheen doesn’t appear to be ready for captain job as he’s too young and remains emotionally charged. Becomes clueless in the event of not taking early wickets. He gave away lot of runs against quality opponents in the WC. It’s better to appoint Rizwan as white ball captain.