The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is yet to take a call on who would replace Babar Azam as the white-ball skipper. While Mohammad Rizwan has emerged as the front runner, reports have claimed that the board is yet to engage in talks with the keeper-batter over the matter. Pakistan are yet to find a captain with less than a month left for their tour to Australia.
Rizwan yet to be finalised as Pakistan captain
Former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif took to social media platforms to claim that the decision on Rizwan taking over as captain would be taken in the meeting between the star and PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi. The discussion, which was supposed to take place earlier, has been delayed as Naqvi is currently not in Pakistan. Pakistan are in the hunt for a new white-ball skipper after Babar Azam resigned once again following the side’s debacle at the T20 World Cup.
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Babar Azam stepped down as Pakistan’s captain for the second time in a year. First, he took responsibility for the side’s miserable performance in the ODI World Cup in 2023 and stepped aside. Later, he replaced Shaheen Afridi as the T20I skipper just before the T20 World Cup in June, leaving the latter hanging after leading the team in just one series. Pakistan were knocked out of the T20 WC in the group stage, prompting Babar Azam to once again offer his resignaton. Rizwan’s name has been doing he rounds on Pakistan media as Babar’s replacement but it is yet to be confirmed by the PCB. While many other players were in the fray for captaincy, Rizwan reportedly emerged as a strong contender. However, it was reported earlier as well that the PCB was yet to have a discussion with the player. Reports also stated that Rizwan wanted to express ‘reservations’ over how former Pakistan skippers were treated by the board in the past before taking a decision on ascending to the leadership position.
The Pakistan cricket team is scheduled to depart to Australia on October 29, with the ODI series getting underway from November 4 followed by the T20I series from November 14.