File photo of Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi© Twitter
There is a big change that is about to happen in Pakistan cricket, according to a report in geo.tv. Babar Azam is set to be re-appointed as the Pakistan cricket team’s T20I captain while Shaheen Afridi‘s tenure has all but ended. Azam will be the captain from Pakistan’s upcoming five-T20I series against New Zealand, which starts from April 18, sources told the Pakistan website. Babar Azam was earlier sacked as the Pakistan cricket team captain after a disastrous campaign at the ICC ODI World Cup last year in India.
Earlier, according to a report in news agency PTI, sources in the PCB think-tank said the board had come to the conclusion that, with no viable option available, Babar was the best choice to lead the side 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 confided.
The source added that the interesting part is that Babar is now showing some 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 added.
Babar was removed as captain in the white-ball format immediately after the World Cup when Zaka Ashraf was PCB chairman. He then opted to step down as red-ball captain as well.
Babar had held the position of captain in all formats since 2020 but poor performances in the Asia Cup and World Cup led to his axing.
“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 said.
Shaheen not only lost his first series as captain in New Zealand (1-4) but returned to see Qalandars finish at the bottom of the points table in the PSL this year.
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