New Delhi: Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim said that everyone in Pakistan was surprised after star player Babar Azam was reappointed as Pakistan’s T20I captain ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA.
Babar stepped down from captaincy across all formats following Pakistan’s disappointing campaign at the 2023 World Cup in India. Top order batter Shan Masood was named his successor in the red-ball formats while pace bowler Shaheen Afiridi was named the T20I captain.
Surprisingly, Babar was back as the T20I captain after Pakistan lost the T20I series in New Zealand by a 1-4 margin in Shaheen’s first assignment.
“Yes, I was surprised. What can I say, it’s ultimately the selector’s call. Whatever they thought was the best option, they picked and they picked the team [accordingly]. Everybody in Pakistan was surprised, not just me. So, I can’t say no that I was not surprised,” Imad told PakPassion YouTube channel.
Pakistan endured their worst performance in the T20 World Cup history after they failed to advance to the Super 8 stage. The Babar Azam-led side suffered a shocking defeat against tournament debutants USA in a Super Over.
“Yeah, our performance wasn’t up to the mark, to be honest, and we have to accept that, including myself. So yeah, but it is what it is. I think we had a good side, but it didn’t click,” Imad added.
Will Babar Azam continue as Pakistan captain?
Pakistan has been struggling in international cricket with many saying that the national team has hit rock bottom. The recent 2-0 Test series loss against Bangladesh on home soil has only exacerbated the situation. A report from Geo News indicated that the PCB is likely to replace wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan with Babar Azam as white-ball captain ahead of the Australia tour in November.
Meanwhile, the PCB would assess Shan Masood’s captaincy after failing to win a single Test match in his first five Tests as Pakistan captain.
However, a PCB source close to the development quashed any such possibilities in a report by news agency PTI. The report mentioned that head coaches Gary Kirsten (white-ball) and Jason Gillespie (red-ball) have advised the national cricket board to not change captains after every poor show by the national team.
Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy across all formats following Pakistan’s disappointing campaign at the 2023 World Cup in India. Top order batter Shan Masood was named his successor in the red-ball formats while pace bowler Shaheen Afiridi was named the T20I captain. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
