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Former Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal has raised questions over the way Babar Azam’s captaincy has been handled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Babar Azam has been made captain, removed, and then brought back several times, and Akmal feels these repeated changes have been unfair to both the star batter and Pakistan cricket.
Akmal’s comments came after Babar returned as Pakistan’s Test captain in July 2026. His first assignment was the two-match Test series against the West Indies, which ended 1-1. Pakistan lost the first Test but bounced back strongly to win the second match by eight wickets. Amid this, Babar Azam back in ICC Test top 10 rankings after nearly two years.
Babar Azam’s captaincy journey
Babar Azam’s captaincy journey has been full of major changes. He first became Pakistan’s T20I captain in October 2019. By the end of 2020, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had also made him captain in ODI and Test cricket because of his strong batting and growing leadership role.
His best time as captain was between 2021 and 2022. Pakistan defeated India in the 2021 T20 World Cup for the first time in a World Cup match, and then they made it to the 2022 T20 World Cup final in Australia but lost the trophy to England under Babar’s captaincy.
However, Babar’s captaincy came under the scanner after Pakistan’s poor 2023 ODI World Cup campaign. The team failed to reach the knockout stage, and Babar stepped down as captain across all three formats right after the mega event in India back in November 2023.
PCB makes another U-turn as Babar Azam returns as Test captain after 2024 setback
Just four months later, the PCB brought him back as the limited-overs captain in March 2024 following Shaheen Afridi’s disappointing short spell as Pakistan’s white-ball captain. Amid this, Shoaib Akhtar predicts seam-friendly pitches, warns Pakistan ahead Of England Test Series.
Sadly, Pakistan had a disappointing 2024 T20 World Cup campaign, including defeats against the USA and India, and Babar once again resigned as the skipper in October 2024 to focus more on his batting and manage his workload. Then, PCB took another shocking U-turn in July 2026.
After Shan Masood failed to make an impact as the Test captain, the PCB decided to make Babar the Test captain again. His return started with a 1-1 draw against the West Indies. He is now set to lead Pakistan in the tough three-match Test series in England, starting on August 19 in Leeds.
Umar Akmal slams PCB over Babar Azam’s repeated captaincy changes
Ahead of the England Test series opener, Umar Akmal slammed the PCB for not sticking with their decisions and making frequent changes. His main concern is the lack of a clear long-term plan. As Babar has now been given another chance to lead Pakistan, Akmal questioned whether the PCB will finally give him a long and stable run as the captain.
Akmal feels it made little sense to make Babar captain and then remove him after trusting him with such a big responsibility. He stressed that the repeated changes were not good for Babar or the Pakistan team, saying the star batter needed more backing and a proper long-term chance instead of being removed and brought back again and again.
"Babar ko kaptani se hataya hi kyu tha?"- Umar Akmal slams PCB
Umar Akmal was quoted as saying by TOK Sports: “Jab aapne Babar ko kaptaan banaya hai, to use hataya kyu tha? Is Tarah to aapne Pakistan ke sath bhi jayadati ki aur uske sath bhi? (When you had made Babar the captain, why did you remove him in the first place? By doing this, you did an injustice to both Pakistan cricket and to him.”
Umar Akmal questions Pakistan’s decision to reinstate Babar Azam as captain after previously removing him 🇵🇰🏏#TOKSports #BabarAzam #PakistanCricket #PAKvENG #UmarAkmal pic.twitter.com/3HT7uoE0NX
— TOK Sports (@TOKSports021) August 12, 2026
