Ramiz Raja: “The new hierarchy in PCB will put pressure on Babar Azam because the captain now has to work with a new management of PCB during [the] ongoing season”
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Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja believes his successor Najam Sethi will put a lot of pressure on national team captain Babar Azam.
Sethi replaced Ramiz as PCB chairman shortly after Shehbaz Sharif became Pakistan’s Prime Minister.
With a new hierarchy in place, Ramiz has warned Azam to be wary of Sethi and the high expectations he and the other board officials will have.
“The new hierarchy in PCB will put pressure on Babar Azam because the captain now has to work with a new management of PCB during [the] ongoing season,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam will now captain the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which begins on February 13.
The 28-year-old was traded to the Zalmi from the Karachi Kings in exchange for Pakistan batsman Haider Ali and all-rounder Shoaib Malik.
Ironically, the Zalmi will kick off their PSL 8 campaign with a match against the Kings on February 14 in Karachi.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8: Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir, Haseebullah Khan, Sufyan Muqeem, James Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail and Richard Gleeson