Babar Azam Likely to be Sacked as Captain Again; Rizwan Tipped as Front-runner to Take Over as Pakistan Skipper: Report

Babar Azam could see himself being ousted from his role as the national team’s white-ball skipper. It is suggested that Mohammad Rizwan could take over the role across all three formats.

According to a report by Geo News, Rizwan remains a favourite to take over the role of captain. Babar was not a designated skipper during the Champions One-Day Cup which could be a sign that he would not be leading the national set-up in the long run.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced five teams for the domestic tournament. The likes of Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Haris and Saud Shakeel will lead the respective teams.

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The report claims that the Pakistan white-ball head coach, Gary Kirsten had already talked to the PCB officials and the Azam as well in July regarding the matter. To add to this, Rizwan could also be appointed as the skipper for Pakistan in all three formats as well.

Azam had been reappointed as the limited-overs captain on March 31 despite stepping down from the role following Pakistan’s disastrous ODI World Cup 2023 campaign.

But his return to the role proved to be futile as Pakistan suffered yet another disastrous show during the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024 hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America. In both ODI and T20 World Cups, Pakistan were unable to make it to the knockout stages despite having a fairly strong squad in their arsenal.

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To rub salt in their wounds, the Pakistan Test team also suffered a clean-sweep defeat against Bangladesh at home as well. Azam’s form with the bat has also put him under further pressure with the star man witnessing his worst form in his career.

As Pakistan continues to witness their worst period of performance, the pressure is added onto the players as well as the cricket board with officials being expected to make some wholesale changes to get the side back to performing at their best levels.