Babar Azam: The new management of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is looking to make a few big changes to the Pakistan team and co. The very first change is to be made with the test captaincy. Some media reports confirmed that the PCB is looking to sack Babar Azam from the test captaincy. Meanwhile, they are also not looking to renew the contracts of the coaching staff of Saqlain Mushtaq and Shaun Tait.
Media reports also suggested that the PCB is looking for a new foreign coach and that three different captains for three formats will be the way forward. These changes are expected to be implemented after the exclusion of the Pakistan Super League in March. All this chopping and changing started after a below-par performance by the Pakistani test team in the recent home series.
ALSO READ: Prithvi Shaw smashes 379 runs vs Assam in Ranji Trophy 2022-23
ALSO READ: Cricket World reacts to Virat Kohli smashing 45th ODI ton
Babar Azam to be sacked from Test captaincy; Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shan Masood are front-runners
They lost four out of their last six tests at home, which has raised many eyebrows over the captaincy of Babar Azam. A source told Geo News, “The PCB is mulling to strip Babar Azam from all-format captaincy and appoint separate skippers for all the three formats.”
Notably, Shan Masood was given the role of vice-captain in the ongoing three-match ODI series against New Zealand in place of Shadab Khan. The source also confirmed that the board is looking to make different captains for white-ball and red-ball formats. Notably, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shan Masood are the two front-runners for the test captaincy.
Meanwhile, Babar Azam will continue to be in charge of the white-ball format, having led Pakistan to the final of the T20 World Cup in Australia and the semi-final of the 2021 T20 World Cup. However, till now there has been no official statement from the PCB, but it is expected that Babar might step down from the test captaincy. Notably, Pakistan is not scheduled to play any tests in the coming 8 months.