Babar Azam comes and goes. From captain to resigning and again becoming captain, much has happened. What has changed about Pakistan cricket? The state of affairs was quite pathetic when Babar left for his country. He was gone, and the situation was still pathetic when he returned. Now he is gone, and the situation remains pathetic. So, who is going to take over?
The last time Babar left, they brought in Shaheen Afridi. But after just one series, they thanked him and moved on. Shaheen didn’t even have time to understand the role before he was gone. It’s like a line from a movie that says, “Our hands are still decorated with henna, and you have removed us.” In November 2023, after a shameful loss to India, Babar resigned. This was big news. Then, in March 2024, this too changed. New leaders had come into the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Babar returned.
Who Will Be the Next Captain of Pakistan Cricket?
But embarrassment at the T20 World Cup and complete abject surrender in all formats made Babar quit again. Shahid Afridi had said earlier, too, that Babar had got enough chances. Now it is time to bid adieu. But the question still lingers: If Babar is not the man, then who is going to be acceptable enough to Pakistan cricket?
Babar tweeted to his fans to explain that last month he was handed the captaincy. He was proud of himself but is now stepping down. He wants to be a batsman solely. “The captaincy was great, but it brought immense pressure”, he said, adding now he wants to enjoy his batting, he will spend time with his family, and in return, he thanked everyone for their support.
Being a number one batsman, he was the most suitable person when the role of captaincy was given by Pakistan to him. In this way, Babar replaced Sarfaraz, who had led Pakistan to its victory over India in the Champions Trophy. At that time, Babar was the best player of Pakistan, but now, for one reason or another, he is not considered as the best player in Pakistan and therefore not the first choice to be appointed the captain again.
Babar last scored a century more than a year ago. His last hundred came against Nepal, which doesn’t participate much in international cricket. His last T20 hundred was April 15, 2023. That feels like ages. The woeful showing at the ODI World Cup in 2023 saw him resign as captain across all formats.
Now, the question is whether Babar will be able to play his regular game as a player in every format, more so T20s, if he is not the captain. As a captain, he pretty much was given a license to play wherever he wanted, but now, as a player, would they open the innings? Would the PCB look at Mohammad Rizwan? Many feel that Rizwan can turn out to be a sensible captain, or else, they will go back to Shaheen Afridi for another shot.
No matter what, Pakistan cricket needs to get out of the embarrassments that have surfaced recently. They were relegated from the group stage of the World Cup, the World Test Championship, and the Asia Cup. They are dumped out of the T20 World Cup group stage as well. Even if Babar had stayed, they would have still been out of the World Test Championship.
