Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Babar Azam as the captain of the national team again for the white ball format, then the old discussion of the musical chairs of captaincy in Pakistani cricket started again and in such a situation, the statement of former captain Shahid Afridi was on fire. Worked to spray oil.
It should be noted that yesterday the board had shared the video of the meeting between Babar Azam and Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, with which it was written that after the ‘consensus proposal’ of the selection committee of PCB, the chairman appointed Babar to the Pakistan Men’s T20 and T20 team. ODI captain has been appointed.
In such a situation, where different opinions came out on this decision, the reaction of former captain Shahid Afridi also came out yesterday, which is even more important because he is the former captain as well as the father-in-law of Shaheen Shah Afridi, whom Babar Azam was replaced as the captain and his possible response was much debated after the recent decision.
Shahid Afridi, who is often surrounded by controversies due to his statements, gave his reaction to the X-Account and wrote, “I was surprised by the decision of the very experienced players included in the selection committee.”
According to Shahid Afridi, “I believe that if a change was necessary, Mohammad Rizwan was a better choice.”
However, Shahid Afridi said at the same time that ‘since the decision has been made, I fully support Babar Azam and the Pakistan team.’
It should be remembered that Babar Azam was made the captain of T20 for the first time in 2019, then in 2020 he became the captain of ODI and Test format.
Babar Azam resigned from the captaincy of the team after the poor performance of the Pakistan team in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India. After the resignation of Babar Azam, the board appointed Shan Masood as the Test captain and Shaheen Afridi as the captain of the T20 team.
Babar Azam’s next challenge
During his previous captaincy, Babar Azam led the Pakistan team in 20 Tests, 43 ODIs and 71 T20Is.
Apart from this, Pakistan’s T20 and ODI teams under the leadership of Babar both remained at the top of the ICC ODI rankings, but they were criticized for being uncertain on decisive occasions.
Speculation on media and social media
Speculations about the change of captaincy of the Pakistan national team have been going on for a week. There was talk in the media that the board wants to make Babar the captain of the T20 format but he wants to be the captain of all three formats. However, Babar himself did not respond to these reports.
Former Chief Selector Haroon Rasheed said in an interview given to Sama TV that ‘all the blame for the defeat is put on the captain. At a time when the World Cup is on the horizon, it is not right to change the captaincy.
He further said, “You made Shaheen Afridi the captain, so it meant that that decision was wrong?” If you are changing the captain after one series, it will not send good signals to the team.
Former Test cricketer Tanveer Ahmed asked in his vlog a few days ago while commenting on this topic that under the captaincy of Babar Azam, Pakistan reached the finals and semi-finals of important tournaments, so he did not understand what was happening under the captaincy of Babar Azam. It was evil.
He further questioned whether it would be right if Shaheen was removed. He was of the opinion that Shaheen should have been allowed to continue as captain till the World Cup.
Tanveer Ahmed criticized the board and said that PCB has to take strong decisions. “The cricket board itself does not know how many days they have come, they come and ruin Pakistan cricket and leave.”
In a program of Sama TV, former chief selector Muhammad Wasim also asked the question that why do we need to change captain and coach so soon? First you took a decision, now unfortunately it has come again.
PCB mishandled captain’s case
On the appointment of Babar Azam as captain, social media users made the topic a top trend. While Babar’s fans have welcomed this decision, some people have also criticized this decision.
Salim Khaliq, while posting on X, raised the question that ‘will the national team be able to stay together?’
He wrote, “The PCB mishandled the captain’s issue badly. If there was a change, the chairman and selectors would have called Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi for a meeting and taken the decision in confidence.”
User Imran Siddique also criticized the appointment on X and wrote that it is an abuse, no captain deserves to be removed after one series. Babar Azam may not have taken the right decision this time, which may affect the team as well.
Imran further said that Babar Azam should not have accepted this offer. “There will be more pressure on them now and they will be expected to perform at their best.”
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