Pakistan captain, Babar Azam announced his decision to step down from Pakistan's white ball captaincy via social media, in the early hours of Wednesday, October 2 after being given back the captaincy earlier this year.
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According to Babar's statement on X (formerly twitter), captaincy had significantly increased his workload, and he opted to step down to focus on his personal performances as a batter.
He has been inconsistent as a leader and as a batter in the team, in recent times. The 29-year-old was also being heavily criticized for team's failures in the ODI and T20 World Cups in last 12 months.
Following the 50 over World Cup in 2023, he was replaced as T20I captain by Shaheen Afridi and the rein in Test was taken over by Shan Masood. However, within just months and a couple of series, he was reinstated as white-ball captain, but he failed to create any meaningful impact again.
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Who will replace Babar Azam as Pakistan's captain?
Here is a list of three potential Pakistan cricketers who can replace Babar as the national team's white-ball skipper for the coming years:
1. Mohammad Rizwan:
As of now, the wicketkeeper batter, Mohammad Rizwan looks like the front-runner to take over Babar's responsibility as the skipper in white ball cricket. He has been a part of the leadership group for a few years now and has also captained Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League with a record of 32 wins in 48 matches which is the best win percentage for anyone who has captained over 20 matches.
The wicketkeeper is also a consistent performer in all formats, averaging 48.7 in T20Is and 40.1 in ODIs, scoring 3313 and 2088 runs respectively.
2. Shaheen Afridi:
Shaheen Afridi is another option who can take over Pakistan's white ball captaincy after the captain steps down. He was also given the responsibility of the T20I side earlier this year as Pakistan faced New Zealand which was drawn 2-2.
In PSL, Afridi has captained Lahore Qalandars in 34 matches while winning 18 out of those, making it a 52.94% win record.
3. Shadab Khan:
One of the most famous leaders around Pakistan cricket happens to be the all-rounder, Shadab Khan who recently won the Champions One Day Cup with the Panthers, beating the Markhors earlier this week. Shadab has captained, Islamabad United on 55 occasions which is the second-most matches captained in the league after Sarfaraz Ahmed's 80 matches while also winning the title in multiple seasons.
With his impressive record with both bat and ball and his leadership qualities, Shadab is definitely among the top 3 candidates to take over the captaincy in ODIs and T20Is.
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What is Babar Azam's Win-Loss record as Pakistan cricket team captain?
| Format | Matches | Won | Lost | Draw/NR | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 50.00 |
| ODIs | 43 | 26 | 15 | 2 | 61.90 |
| T20Is | 85 | 48 | 30 | 7 | 56.47 |
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