Babar Azam, who recently returned as Pakistan’s Test captain, will next lead his team against England in a three-match Test series. The series opener will take place at Headingley in Leeds from August 19 to 23. Babar previously captained Pakistan across all three formats and enjoyed considerable success in T20 internationals.
Under his leadership, Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup before finishing runners-up in the 2022 edition. 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. 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.
“Babar Azam is an experienced player, so it would be better for the PCB management to keep him away from the English media and send former captain Shan Masood to speak to them more often. Shan has played in England and has better experience of dealing with the English media.”
Meanwhile, as the Pakistan national teams undergo a captaincy overhaul following poor results, Shaheen Shah 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.
According to Telecom Asia Sport, the Pakistan Cricket Board has promised former captain Babar the captaincy in all formats. After giving him the reins of the Test squad, the PCB is now considering handing him the ODI side as well.
Asked if white-ball head coach Mike Hesson and influential selector Aqib Javed back him as ODI captain, Shaheen gave a wry smile before saying, “Till now I am the captain.”
It was reported a few days ago that Babar had accepted the Test captaincy on the condition that he would eventually be appointed all-format skipper. Sources said two selectors assured Babar that if he achieved good results in the two Tests in the West Indies and the three in England, he would become the all-format captain.
Shaheen was appointed ODI skipper in October last year without a fixed 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.
Shaheen, who has led Lahore Qalandars to three PSL titles in the last five years, is expected to remain skipper until the ODI World Cup in Africa next year. However, considering the frequent changes in Pakistan cricket, there is no guarantee that he will remain in the role until the tournament.
Even Babar has not been given a long-term tenure with the Test side, having been appointed captain for the West Indies and England tours.