The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reportedly made a decision to remove Captain Babar Azam from his captaincy role in all formats, ending his long tenure as the team’s leader, as per sources on Tuesday night.
This move follows Pakistan, under Babar’s leadership, failing to reach the semi-finals in the ICC World Cup 2023 held in India.
Sources indicated that should Babar choose not to step down voluntarily, the PCB plans to dismiss him from his position. Shan Masood is being considered as a strong contender for the Test series captaincy against Australia, while Shaheen Shah Afridi is being eyed for the T20I series in New Zealand.
There’s talk that Shaheen might also lead the team in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Babar took over as captain for white-ball cricket in 2019 and for Tests in 2020.
However, the team hasn’t secured any ICC or Asia Cup titles during his leadership. Despite entering the World Cup as the top-ranked team, Pakistan couldn’t live up to expectations and exited the tournament in the group stage.
Support for Babar emerged after the team’s World Cup letdown. Mickey Arthur, the team’s director, backed a “downhearted” Babar, highlighting that making mistakes isn’t a crime.
Babar is set to meet with PCB Management Committee Chairman Zaka Ashraf today, with an announcement regarding his captaincy expected afterward.