Babar Azam to remain captain? Pakistan Cricket Board unlikely to do 'major surgery' due to pressure from....

Speculations are rife that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) might introduce a number of changes in the Pakistan team following the dismal campaign in the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

The Men in Green bowed out of the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup at the group stage. Even though they were one of the contenders for the title, they failed to advance ahead of the first stage after suffering losses against the USA and India. The Babar Azam-led side won against Canada and Ireland but the damage was already done.

The failure in the T20 World Cup has only extended Pakistan cricket's poor state in recent months. Things have not really gone well for Pakistan since the ODI World Cup last year. They exited the World Cup at the league stage and Babar Azam had to step down as the captain although he was reinstated as the T20I captain in April.

With Pakistan failing to do well in the T20 World Cup, it was expected that PCB would once again make a number of changes in the team like it usually does whenever the team fails to perform well in a major event. However, the PCB might not be able to bring about the changes due to opposition from senior Pakistan players, according to reports.

"The reports by (coach Gary Kirsten) Kirsten and (selector Wahab Riaz) Riaz will help the Governing Board and chairman Naqvi decide the next course of action, but all indications are that Naqvi doesn't want a confrontation with senior players, and he has also been advised against massive changes in the team," a source told PTI.

"There are so many outside voices and pressures from within the system that all this talk about big changes is unlikely to happen. So, basically, with a few changes, the same set of players will be in the Pakistan team for coming games as well in all formats.

"You could see cosmetic changes, like changes in the selection committee, and the same old story of reorganising domestic cricket to help do damage control. But the senior players remain strong," added the source.

Babar Azam's future as captain uncertain:

Babar Azam's future as Pakistan's captain is uncertain at the moment as he failed to impress in the T20 World Cup. The star batsman faced criticism not only for his captaincy but his batting as well. There have been calls from several quarters to sack him as the captain.

Many have also urged him to step down from the post voluntarily in order to focus on his batting. The news agency quoted another source as saying that although the PCB has not taken a final call on Babar if he is indeed sacked, Mohammad Rizwan or Shan Masood could replace him as the captain.