Mumbai: When Babar Azam was offered the role of Pakistan’s Test captain, he accepted it only on the condition that he would get all-format leadership, a news report said on Monday.
Babar, who was dethroned because of poor batting a couple of years back, accepted Test captaincy after the incumbent Shan Masood had some poor results in red-ball cricket, said a report in Telecom Asia Sport on Monday.
“Two selectors met Babar before the announcement of the Test captain on July 5 as they had no option other than Babar for red-ball captaincy and Babar accepted the role on condition of getting the captaincy in the other two formats as well,” sources told www.telecomasia.net on Monday.
“Babar had always wanted to be sole captain of Pakistan in all three formats, and when he put that condition, the selectors told him that if the team does well in the West Indies and England over five Tests, then he will get the all-format captaincy,” sources were quoted as saying in the report.
Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is currently captain of the one-day international format. “Shaheen too had a bitter experience as captain as the current Board sacked him as T20I captain after just one series in 2024 when he lost in New Zealand early that year,” a source said.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) waited for two months to take a final decision after Shan Masood failed in the role, losing 12 of the 16 Tests he captained since December 2023.
The selectors first approached Salman Agha, who politely refused to accept the role as he did not want a team embroiled in a lack of cohesion and performance. He has been struggling as T20I captain and was criticised for being defensive in the role during the T20I World Cup in February-March this year.
Pakistan failed to reach the semi-final of the Twenty20 World Cup after losing to India in the group stages and to England in the Super Sixes.
“When Babar stepped down from the all-format captaincy in November 2023, it was because he did not want to be captain of just the Test side. He was offered to lead in one format, but he declined,” said sources.
“At that time, Zaka Ashraf was the chairman of PCB, and after Pakistan crashed out of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India in the first round, he wanted to remove Babar,” said sources. “Ashraf had invited Babar for a meeting, but on knowing about Shan already sitting in the chairman’s office, Babar decided to step down from all three formats.”
Babar’s record in Tests was better, with ten wins in 20 matches, six defeats and four draws.
Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali has also predicted Babar will be Pakistan’s captain in the ODI World Cup next year. “A lot of people believe that once Shaheen gets injured and misses a series, Pakistan will have a chance to appoint Babar as all-format captain. It has already been decided that Salman will not remain T20I captain, a role which will also go to Babar,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
(IANS)
