“Once again, Babar Azam has become the captain of Pakistan! There’s been another change in the PCB chairman’s position as well. Mohsin Khan has become the new chairman of Pakistan cricket. This former chief minister of Punjab will oversee the country’s cricket for the next three years. However, controversy has already begun brewing with his appointment.
There’s speculation that Babar Azam might understand the responsibility of captaincy under Nakhvi once again. Although just three months ago, Babar had stepped down from this responsibility. After the World Cup, Babar Azam had made a decision on his own amidst various criticisms. The influence of the then PCB chief, Zakir Ashraf, was also evident at that time.
Following the World Cup failure, Shahid Afridi became the captain for T20Is, and Shan Masood took charge for Tests. However, there has been no captain for ODIs until now. Despite the buzz, Babar will essentially lead in all three formats if he becomes the captain. Various media outlets, including Sama TV, have mentioned that PCB’s internal sources are considering bringing Babar back under leadership.
Babar Azam became Pakistan’s captain in 2019 at the age of 29. He led the limited-overs team. The next year, he also took charge of the Test team. Despite rising in popularity, Babar hasn’t achieved significant success in terms of leadership. Pakistan’s highest achievement in the last year was reaching number one in the ODI rankings. Despite the World Cup setback, criticism from Asia Cup’s super four stage, or allegations of giving preference to friends in the team, Babar has faced various challenges.
Yet, even without Babar, Pakistan cricket hasn’t seen any overnight success. After stepping down from captaincy, Babar has played two series for Pakistan. Among them, Pakistan lost the Test series in Australia by 3-0 and the T20 series in New Zealand by 4-1.However, there’s hope. Amidst the slump in form during the World Cup and thereafter, Babar has started returning to form with his runs.
He scored runs with his bat against New Zealand in the series against them. Then, in the ongoing BPL, he was the highest run-scorer in his team’s last match.”
