Babar appointed as Pakistan’s T20, ODI skipper
By our correspondent
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday appointed Babar Azam as Pakistan’s T20 and ODI captain.
The PCB announced it on it’s official X account.
“Following unanimous recommendation from the PCB selection committee chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi has appointed Babar Azam as T20 and ODI captain of Pakistan’s men’s team,” the PCB statement said.
Babar had resigned from captaincy in the era of Zaka Ashraf as the PCB boss last year. The PCB brought in Shaheen Afridi to replace Babar and wanted Babar to act as test captain but he had refused that as he wanted to act as skipper in all formats.
Pakistan will host New Zealand next month in five T20 International matches. Pindi will host three matches while Lahore will host two.
Babar was time and again criticised by former cricketers for having failed to handle the elite side well and especially in the World Cup in Australia and demanded a new captain.
It was surprising that Pakistan had a good choice for captaincy in the shape of Mohammad Rizwan but the wicket-keeper batsman is being ignored for the job time and again.
And another big issue is that the PCB recently constituted a seven-member selection committee but it does not have even a single member from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which is producing the gem of talent.
It includes five members from Punjab (three test cricketers, captain Babar Azam and a data analyst) and one member from Sindh.
The head coach which is being appointed will also be it’s member.