Babar Azam Is Pakistan's Future Captain Across All Three Formats: PCB CEO

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO Wasim Khan has stated Babar Azam will be Pakistan’s captain across formats in coming days. Babar Azam tasted captaincy for the first time last year when he was named the T20I captain after the PCB sacked Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain.

It was a captaincy debut to forget for Babar Azam as Australia crushed Pakistan. He tasted his first success as captain in January this year when he led Pakistan to 2-0 win against Bangladesh at home. Last month, he was also named the team’s ODI captain while Azhar Ali is leading the Test side.

And going by the words of the PCB CEO, it would not be too long before Babar Azam takes over as Pakistan’s Test captain too. Khan drew parallels between former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and Babar Azam and said both were appointed as captains very early in their respective careers.

“Look at Graeme Smith, he was 23 when he was made captain and look at his record. I think before you give someone the captaincy, you have to understand what kind of individual they are. Can they handle the pressure? Is it going to affect their game?” Khan was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.

“So far Babar has proved that the decision was right. He is our future captain across all three formats. But we have to develop 11 leaders which we haven’t done for a very long time. In the past, we have relied on one or two players to be the leader,” he added.

One of the best batsmen in the world right now, Babar Azam is likely to be seen in action next when Pakistan tour England for three Tests and three T20Is. The series is scheduled to take place in August-September. However, there are question marks over the tour after PCB announced that ten players have been tested positive for coronavirus. But for the time being, PCB is confident that the tour will go ahead as planned.

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