Following the team’s crushing 104-run loss in the first Test in Dhaka on Tuesday, Pakistan is getting ready to replace Shan Masood with Babar Azam as Test captain following the Bangladesh series.
The team’s performance and Masood’s leadership have drawn a lot of criticism in Pakistan. Masood also had a poor batting performance, failing in both innings.
Pakistan is still slated to play seven more Tests this year, and a campaign has started to reinstate Babar as Test captain for the remaining games of the World Test Championship cycle, according to a source close to the team.
While Babar missed the first Test match against Bangladesh owing to a knee injury, he is expected to return for the second match on May 18. Since Masood took over as Test captain in December 2023, Pakistan has lost 11 of their 15 games.
“Some influential figures in the Pakistan Cricket Board also want Babar back as captain and believe this is the right time to give him another run at captaincy,” PTI quoted the source as saying.
He said that there was support for Babar’s return as Test captain even among the players.
Salman Ali Agha, the T20I captain, and Shaheen Shah Afridi, the ODI captain, are among the three captains of the Pakistani team now touring Bangladesh.
“If Babar plays the second Test and regains his batting form, he is a strong contender to come back as captain. Initial exchanges with some board officials indicate he is also not averse to becoming captain again,” the source said.
According to him, the plan is to reinstate Babar as Test captain and then have him ready to take over as ODI captain prior to the World Cup the following year.
Before he was compelled to resign after the 2023 World Cup in India, Babar served as captain of all three formats from 2019 to 2023.
After a dismal tournament, he resigned from his position as T20 captain for the 2024 World Cup.
According to the source, Shan Masood is now seriously considering accepting a permanent position with the Pakistan Cricket Board after being extremely disappointed by the first Test loss.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi offered him the position of Director of International Cricket and Player Affairs last year, but he chose to finish the current World Test Championship cycle.
