Javed Miandad on Babar Azam: “The board should clarify to Babar that he is their preferred choice for captain”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) must clarify if Babar Azam “is their preferred choice for captain”, legendary batsman Javed Miandad said.
Azam currently leads Pakistan in all three formats of the game.
However, some cricketers, such as wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, want him to give up the captaincy so that he can solely focus on his batting as he is the team’s most consistent run-scorer.
Miandad, on the other hand, simply wants the PCB to make their stance clear on whether they plan to keep backing the 28-year-old as captain or if they want to split the captaincy. They should also make it crystal clear if they are leaning towards completely giving the leadership role to someone else, he said.
Interim Pakistan chief selector Shahid Afridi named wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan, spinner Shadab Khan and top order batsman Shan Masood as the three candidates who could replace Azam as captain.
“The board should clarify to Babar that he is their preferred choice for captain,” Miandad was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
Currently, Azam and the Pakistan team are involved in a series against New Zealand on home soil.
The first Test ended as a draw, but Azam played brilliantly as he scored a marvelous 161, which came off 280 balls and included 15 boundaries and a six.
The second Test gets underway on Monday in Karachi, after which Pakistan and New Zealand will play three ODIs.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand Test Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood and Zahid Mahmood