New Delhi: Former Pakistan cricketer Mudassar Nazar reckoned wicketkeepe-batter Mohammad Rizwan to be the frontrunner to succeed Babar Azam as the national team’s white-ball captain. Nazar said the top management in Pakistan cricket aren’t pleased with Rizwan’s leadership, but they have no option to look elsewhere.
On Wednesday (October 2), Babar announced the decision to step down from Pakistan’s captaincy in white-ball formats (ODIs and T20Is). This was the second time he relinquished captaincy duties for the national team within a year. The move also comes after Pakistan failed to advance to the Super 8 stage in the T20 World Cup 2024 in June this year.
Reports suggested that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was planning for captaincy change with Rizwan said to take over the reins from Babar ahead of the Australia tour in November. Mudassar Nazar, who played for Pakistan in 76 Tests and 122 ODIs between 1976 and 1989, said Pakistan are bound to hand over the white-ball leadership to Rizwan with lack of alternatives at their disposal.
“Right now, they don’t have any choice left. They’ve tried everyone except Rizwan. They’ll have to make Rizwan the captain. I don’t think the inner circle and top management are very happy with Rizwan, but they’ll be forced to choose him,” Nazar told Cricket Pakistan.
Nazar explains why Pakistan shouldn’t hand captaincy to a youngster
Babar was removed from the Pakistan captaincy across formats after the team missed the semifinals spot in the 2023 World Cup last year in November. Top order batter Shan Masood and left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi were named his successors in Tests and T20Is, respectively. However, Babar was reappointed T20I skipper after Pakistan lost 1-4 in the T20I series against New Zealand in January.
But embarrassing defeat to co-hosts USA in the Group A fixture coupled with the close loss to arch-rivals India eliminated Pakistan from the World T20. Nazar believes only a senior player should be assigned with the captaincy task.
“If they go for a younger player, it will turn into the same situation like with Babar Azam. It’s better to make a senior player the captain and then groom someone under him. In my opinion, it would be better for Pakistan to make Rizwan the captain for all three formats,” Nazar said.
Pakistan are set to host England for three Test matches from October 7 to 28. The national team will then tour to Australia to play three One-Day Internationals and as many T20Is from November 4 to 18. They will end their year with a grueling tour of South Africa, where they play three T20Is, three ODIs and a couple of Tests.
Reports suggested that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was planning for captaincy change with Rizwan said to take over the reins from Babar ahead of the Australia tour in November. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
