Azhar Ali Reacts After Babar Azam Replaces Him As Pakistan's Test Captain

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on Tuesday, sacked Azhar Ali as captain of Pakistan’s Test captain. He has been replaced by Babar Azam as Pakistan’s new Test skipper. Babar Azam is now Pakistan’s captain across all the three formats. Azhar Ali’s sacking was pretty much on the cards ever since Pakistan returned from the tour of England.

Babar’s first assignment as Test captain will be leading Pakistan in the ICC World Test Championship games against New Zealand, which will be played in Mount Maunganui and Christchurch from December 26-30 and January 3-7 respectively.

“I feel truly honoured to have been appointed Test captain and join some of the most iconic players who have captained Pakistan in the purest format of the game. I can now say with conviction that dreams can come true only if you chase them with honesty, dedication and commitment,” Babar Azam said after the appointment.

Azhar Ali reacts to the appointment:

Minutes after the PCB made their decision public, Azhar Ali took to Twitter to react to it. The veteran batsman congratulated his successor and stated that he would fully support Babar Azam as the latter starts his career as a Test captain.

“Congratulations @babarazam258 for being appointed as test captain all the best brother,” wrote Azhar Ali.

“I assure my full support to you.. May Allah help you achieve many glorious victories for Pakistan Ameen….” he added.

Congratulations @babarazam258 for being appointed as test captain all the best brother? I assure my full support to you.. May Allah help you achieve many glorious victories for Pakistan Ameen….

— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) November 10, 2020

Azhar Ali led Pakistan in a total of 9 Tests. In his maiden Test series as captain which was in Australia, Pakistan had lost both the games by an innings. It was followed by wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at home but another poor overseas series in England hurt his chances of retaining the captaincy.

Overall, Pakistan won two Tests under him while losing four. In those 9 games, Azhar Ali made his runs at an average of 37 and scored with two centuries.

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