On Wednesday, renowned batsman Babar Azam resigned as captain of Pakistan’s white-ball team in an unexpected move.
Star batsman Babar Azam unexpectedly resigned from his position as Pakistan’s white-ball team captain on Wednesday. The 29-year-old batter made his announcement on his X (formerly Twitter) handle. Since Babar took over as captain in 2019, Pakistan has not emerged victorious from a major competition. Babar resigned as captain in 2023 following Pakistan’s disastrous ODI World Cup campaign. He was given the position once more in March 2024, but he was unable to lead Pakistan to the T20 World Cup semifinals.
Babar led Pakistan in all formats before to the ODI World Cup 2023. Shan Masood captained the team in Tests, but bowler Shaheen Afridi was named white-ball captain following his resignation. Shaheen’s tenure was brief; following a 4-1 series defeat to New Zealand, he was fired.
Shan led the squad in Tests, but Babar took over as captain in the restricted overs. Babar, though, has now chosen to resign, and his choice has drawn harsh condemnation from the supporters.
Babar Azam Trophies Won in 6 Tourn: 0 https://t.co/uPjBRKmVhn
— Lahori Guy (@YrrrFahad_) October 1, 2024
became the first captain to get kicked out for the 2nd time in an year
was captain during our worst ODI WC and WT20 campaign https://t.co/AYUBk8wjGB pic.twitter.com/aQUgCipIFX
— -invader (@sshayaannn) October 1, 2024
After making his Test debut against the West Indies in 2016, Babar has participated in 54 games and amassed 3,962 runs at a strike rate of 54.63. He participated in 117 matches and scored 5,729 runs at a strike rate of 88.75 during his first One-Day International (ODI) against Zimbabwe in 2015.
Babar has participated in 123 matches since making his T20I debut against England in 2016 and has amassed 4,145 runs with a strike rate of 129.08.
Pakistan’s 2024 T20 World Cup campaign was marred by disappointment as they lost to co-hosts USA in their opening game in New York on a challenging pitch. They were unable to go past the group stage, so this unexpected loss proved to be critical.
Pakistan will play a three-match Test series against England at home in the coming days.
The first test will start in Multan on October 7 and the second test will follow on October 15, both in Multan. From October 24 to 28, Rawalpindi will host the final test.
