As the national teams undergo a captaincy purge over poor results, Shaheen Afridi has asserted that “till now I am Pakistan’s captain for one-day internationals” as reports gather steam that Babar Azam is likely to take over as all-format captain, a news report said on Monday. The Pakistan Cricket Board has promised former captain Babar the captaincy in all formats, and after giving him the reins of the Test squad, the PCB is considering handing the ODI side now, according to Telecom Asia Sport. Asked if white-ball head coach Mike Hesson and powerful selector Aaqib Javed back him as ODI captain, Shaheen gave a wry smile before saying, “Till now I am the captain.”
Key Factors
Shaheen was appointed ODI skipper in October last year without a tenure, replacing Mohammad Rizwan under whom Pakistan crashed out of the Champions Trophy in the first round before losing a series to the West Indies for the first time in 24 years. The series opener will take place at Headingley in Leeds from August 19 to 23. Under his leadership, Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup before finishing runners-up in the 2022 edition.
It was reported a few days back that Babar had accepted the Test captaincy on the condition that he should be appointed all-format skipper.
Sources said two selectors assured Babar that if he attains good results in the two Tests in the West Indies and three in England, he will become all-format skipper. Pakistan have a busy preparatory schedule for the World Cup with a home tri-series against Sri Lanka and England, followed by another tri-series with Zimbabwe and Ireland (venue likely to be Zimbabwe) and a five-match series in England. (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Told To Hide Babar Azam From England Media, Instead This Star’s Name Gets Floated Pakistan Told To Hide Babar Azam From England Media, Instead This Star’s Name Gets Floated Babar Azam, who recently returned as Pakistan’s Test captain, will next lead his team against England in a three-match Test series Babar Azam, who recently returned as Pakistan’s Test captain, will next lead his team against England in a three-match Test series Babar Azam , who recently returned as Pakistan’s Test captain, will next lead his team against England in a three-match Test series. He said that Babar Azam should be kept away from the English media during the tour. “An England tour is a difficult assignment, and the English media often tries to unnecessarily involve visiting teams in news stories,” Rashid said on Geo News’ Score.
Shaheen, who has led Lahore Qalandars to three PSL titles in the last five years, is seen as skipper until the ODI World Cup in Africa next year. But considering frequent changes in Pakistan, there is no guarantee he will remain in the saddle till the ODI World Cup. Even Babar is not given a long tenure with the Test side, appointed skipper for the West Indies and England tours. Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali has recently predicted Babar will be Pakistan’s captain in next year’s World Cup. He also recorded one of the best winning percentages among Pakistan’s T20I captains during his previous tenure. Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has made an intriguing request to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ahead of the series.
Babar previously captained Pakistan across all three formats and enjoyed considerable success in T20 internationals.
