LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board is contemplating reinstating Babar Azam as the captain of the national team across all formats, signaling the likely end of Shaheen Shah Afridi’s brief tenure as captain after just one series. Shaheen’s captaincy debut saw Pakistan endure a disappointing 4-1 defeat against New Zealand, followed by further setbacks in the HBL Pakistan Super League season nine, where Lahore Qalandars, under his leadership, suffered six consecutive losses and exited the tournament.
His struggles in the premier T20 competition placed his position as the leader of the Pakistan cricket team in jeopardy. Initially, Mohammad Rizwan, who excelled with Multan Sultans, was seen as the frontrunner to replace Shaheen as captain. However, recent developments, as reported by Cricket Pakistan, suggest that Babar Azam is now the primary contender for the captaincy role once again.
PCB officials are nearing a decision to reinstate him as captain. Babar, known for his batting prowess, was relieved of his white-ball captaincy following Pakistan’s subpar performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. While the board initially aimed to retain him as captain in Test cricket, he stepped down from that position as well.
Subsequently, Shaheen was appointed T20 captain, while Shan Masood led the Test side. However, Pakistan’s performance suffered, evidenced by losses in all three Tests in Australia and a 4-1 defeat in the T20I series against New Zealand.
