What Did Babar Azam Tell Shan Masood Immediately After The Latter Becoming Pakistan Captain? Double Centurion Reveals

The newly-appointed Test skipper for the Pakistan Cricket Team, Shan Masood, has made some revelations about the conversation he had with former captain Babar Azam. They both talked regarding Pakistan’s future direction as the Men In Green embark on a three-match Test series against the World Champions Australia this month.

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Shan Masood revealed his conversation with Babar Azam, emphasizing the importance of implementing a leadership culture within the whole team. He also said that Babar’s role will still be as a leader in the team.

“I had a conversation with him [Babar Azam] and it was about taking the team forward, how to take it forward, Babar’s own role, and I think what you’ll see in the future is that he’s going to be in this team as a leader and the goal is to build a culture where there are many leaders, not just one captain doing everything,” Masood said.

Shan Masood Reveals The Sudden Circumstances When He Was Appointed As The New Test Captain

The 34-year-old opened up on the sudden course of events when he was appointed as Pakistan’s new test captain. He revealed that he was playing in the domestic One-Day Cup when he received a call from the PCB and was asked to reach Lahore by noon as Zaka Ashraf wanted to meet him urgently.

“I was playing in the One-Day Cup when it happened, completely out of the blue. I was in Islamabad at the time, and I think I received a call from the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) that morning, saying that I should reach Lahore by noon. Chairman Zaka Ashraf wanted to meet me. It was very short notice, but I went for a day and then returned to play in the semi-final of the National One-Day Cup. So, it was a very sudden story,” he said.

Babar Azam was severely criticized for his poor performance as a captain and batter in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 where Pakistan suffered four consecutive defeats including a heart-wrenching loss against Afghanistan. He was then asked to step down from his position as Pakistan’s captain and he obliged to it.

Babar Azam stepped down as Pakistan’s skipper from all the formats on November 15 after a meeting with PCB chief Zaka Ashraf. The Pakistan Cricket Board appointed  Shan Masood as the test captain and Shaheen Shah Afridi as the T20I captain. The Men In Green will face Australia in a three-match test series starting from 14th December.