PAK vs NZ: “The Status Quo Should Be…” - Najam Sethi On Babar Azam’s Future As Captain

Chair of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Najam Sethi opened up about the future of Babar Azam as the skipper of the team in all three formats of the game. He said that they fully support Babar Azam and there shouldn’t be any controversy related to this topic now.

In the last few months, the captaincy of Babar Azam has come under scrutiny due to the poor performance of Pakistan at home. They suffered a thumping 3-0 loss against England in the Test series at home and also just managed to draw the series against New Zealand. Notably, they also lost to Australia at home in 2022.

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Many media reports suggested that PCB is willing to change their skipper, if not for all formats, but they would change the captain of at least one format. A few former cricketers from the nation too are against him captaining the side.

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Amid all the speculations, the Chairman of PCB has ruled out all the reports and said that he had discussions with Selection Committees headed by Shahid Afridi and now Harood Rashid related to the same and they have decided that Babar Azam’s status should be retained. Taking to his official Twitter account, he said:

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“For months media and cricketing circles have been discussing the pros and cons of retaining Babar Azam as captain in all formats of the game. Since this decision is ultimately Chairman’s, I have sought views of Selection Committees headed by Shahid Afridi and now Harood Rashid.”

“Both Committees thought matter merited discussion but both later came to the conclusion that the status quo should be retained. I have subsequently publicly satted this positon. In the final analysis my decision will be subject to the success or failure of status quo.”

Also Read: PAK vs NZ: “They Told Us, Babar Azam Needs To Be Replaced As Captain As Well”- Najam Sethi Makes Stunning Remarks On Shahid Afridi

PAK vs NZ: “We should support Babar and not make matter controversial in interest of national team,” says Najam Sethi

Najam Sethi further went on to say that he will take the guidance of the Director of Cricket Operations and Head Coach going forward but at the moment they should support Babar Azam. He added:

“I will also be guided by what the selectors and Director Cricket Operations and Head Coach have to say going forward. I expect they will be in the best position to advise me. Therefore, we should supoort Babar and not make matter controversial in interest of national team.”

Pakistan are all set to host New Zealand for the white-ball series next. The two teams will clash with each other in 5 T20Is and 5 ODIs from 14th April to 7th April. Babar Azam will captain the team in all the games.

Also Read: PAK vs NZ: PCB Chairman Najam Sethi Confesses That Several Parties Are Interested In Buying Two New Pakistan Super League (PSL) Teams

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