File image of Babar Azam© AFP
In a shocking turn of events, star batter Babar Azam stepped down as the captain of Pakistan's white-ball team on Wednesday. The 29-year-old batter took to his X (formerly Twitter) handle and announced his decision. Pakistan has not won a major tournament during Babar's tenure as captain, which began in 2019. In 2023, Babar gave up his captaincy after Pakistan's debacle in the ODI World Cup. However, he was again handed over the job in March 2024 but he failed to guide Pakistan into the semi-finals of T20 World Cup.
Before the ODI World Cup 2023, Babar was Pakistan's all-format skipper. After his resignation, pacer Shaheen Afridi was appointed as the white-ball captain while Shan Masood led the team in Tests. Shaheen's appointment was short-lived as he was removed from the job after a 4-1 series loss against New Zealand.
Babar then returned as the skipper in the limited overs while Shan continued to lead the team in Tests. However, Babar has now decided to step down again and his decision fetched a lot of criticism from the fans.
— Lahori Guy (@YrrrFahad_) October 1, 2024
- got shaheen sacked to get captaincy back
— -invader (@sshayaannn) October 1, 2024
- became the first captain to get kicked out for the 2nd time in an year
- was captain during our worst ODI WC and WT20 campaign https://t.co/AYUBk8wjGB pic.twitter.com/aQUgCipIFX
— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) October 1, 2024Babar Azam has stepped down as Pakistan's white-ball captain.
He should've never accepted the captaincy offer in the first place earlier this year.
Babar has resigned as a Captain of Pakistan twice in the last 12 months. You never know he might accept it again. https://t.co/jUMPpHAaut
— Aditya Saha (@Adityakrsaha) October 1, 2024
Babar made his Test debut in 2016 against the West Indies and has since played 54 matches, scoring 3,962 runs at a strike rate of 54.63. He played his first ODI in 2015 against Zimbabwe, featuring in 117 matches and scoring 5,729 runs at a strike rate of 88.75.
Since debuting in T20Is in 2016 against England, Babar has played 123 matches, amassing 4,145 runs at a strike rate of 129.08.
In the T20 World Cup 2024, Pakistan suffered a disappointing campaign, losing their opening match to co-hosts USA on a tricky surface in New York. This surprise defeat proved crucial as they failed to progress beyond the group stage.
In the coming days, Pakistan will face England in a three-match Test series on home soil.
The first Test will begin on October 7 in Multan, followed by the second Test on October 15, also in Multan. The final Test will be held in Rawalpindi from October 24 to 28.
(With ANI Inputs)