"Shaheen Has Taken On The Role.."- Shadab Khan Reacts To Babar Azam's Resignation As Captain
Published - 09 Dec 2023, 01:22 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:23 AM
Pakistan allrounder Shadab Khan has shared his views on Babar Azam’s decision to relinquish the captaincy in all three formats. Babar Azam stepped down as Pakistan’s captain in all the formats last month after his team’s poor performance in the ODI World Cup.
The right-handed batsman had faced severe criticism for his leadership during the competition. His average performance with the bat only piled more pressure on him as several experts urged him to step down as the captain and focus on batting. And soon after the World Cup ended, Babar Azam decided to resign from captaincy.
Under his captaincy, Pakistan failed to progress ahead of the league stage. They finished at the fifth spot in the points table after managing only 4 wins in 9 games. The Men in Green also suffered a shocking defeat against Afghanistan. Before the World Cup, Pakistan had also failed to advance to the final of the Asia Cup.
Shadab Khan reacts to Babar Azam’s decision:
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Shan Masood and Shaheen Afridi as the Test and T20I captains respectively. Reacting to Babar Azam’s decision, Shadab Khan backed his teammate and wished him luck. He also said that the Pakistan players had a great time under his captaincy.
“Look, everyone has their own decision, and Babar has stepped down. We send him our best wishes. We’ve had a great time with him as the captain for Pakistan,” Shadab Khan told Cricket Pakistan.
Speaking further, Shadab Khan said that he and his teammates are excited to play under the captaincy of Shaheen, saying: “Now, Shaheen has taken on the role, and we’re excited about it. We’ve witnessed his captaincy in the PSL, and it feels great. Let’s see how it goes playing under his captaincy for the first time; it will give an idea of how much fun it is, and I am very excited to play under Shaheen’s captaincy.”
Pakistan are currently gearing up to take on Australia in a three-match Test series, scheduled to start on December 14 in Perth. It will be followed by a five-match T20I series against New Zealand next month.
