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Babar Azam has been
awarded the white-ball captaincy once again, meaning Shaheen Shah Afridi’s
one-series reign as Pakistan T20I captain is about to end. Mohsin Naqvi, the
chairman of the PCB, presented the offer to Babar earlier this week.
As for Babar, he hasn’t accepted the offer yet. He was offended by the decision
to take away his armband in all three forms after Pakistan’s dismal 2023 ODI
World Cup campaign, and if he is to consider a comeback, he has requested that
the PCB name him captain in each of the three formats. After Babar unwillingly
resigned, no official ODI captain was ever named; however, Shan Masood is the
current Test captain, having captained the team during a three-match series in
Australia.
once Naqvi declined
to support Afridi during a press conference in Lahore on Sunday, stating that a
final decision would be taken once Pakistan’s military training camp concluded,
it was clear that Afridi’s time was running out. However, it seems that confidence
in Afridi’s leadership skills has quickly evaporated after he led Pakistan in
one series and his PSL team, Lahore Qalandars. Pakistan’s T20I series loss to
New Zealand was 4-1, and Qalandars only managed one win in 10 games, finishing
last in the PSL standings.
But, considering
Naqvi’s remarks that Pakistan preferred appointments made hastily after a few
games to long-term captains they could support, Afridi would feel cheated
because that is exactly what has happened to him. Afridi, who is still only 23
years old, was chosen to be captain in part because of his potential to grow on
the job and hold the position for a long time. He was also seen as the
front-runner to assume leadership of the ODI team.
Although Babar’s
insistence on being named Test captain isn’t thought to be a deal-breaker for
the outgoing captain, it does exert a great lot of pressure on Masood’s role as
red-ball captain. Pakistan lost all three of their games in Australia, and he has
only captained the team for one series. Even though injuries hindered the
bowling attack, a more aggressive style as captain was generally regarded as a
contributing factor to Pakistan running the hosts close in two of the three
Test matches.
As things stand,
Pakistan has been in talks with a number of potential head coach candidates but
has not been able to come to an agreement. Those that ultimately declined them
included Shane Watson, Mike Hesson, and Adam Voges. Moreover, once-promising talks
with Luke Ronchi have also fallen through. There is yet no indication of a
breakthrough in the talks between the PCB and Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie.
Pakistan’s upcoming series, which Babar is anticipated to captain his team for
once again, consists of five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against New
Zealand in April.