Rashid Latif: “There’s no one who can stand in front of him right now”
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Former wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif said there is no one good enough to replace Babar Azam as Pakistan captain right now.
Azam’s leadership skills have been thrown into the spotlight following the national team’s dismal home season, where they lost their Test series against England 3-0, drew 0-0 in their Test series against New Zealand, and lost the ODI series that followed 2-1.
Following these results, rumours of a split captaincy started swirling around, but no firm action has been taken.
A number of names to replace Azam as captain have been put forward, including Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan.
However, Latif dismissed all these names, reiterating none of them can take over the captaincy.
“There’s no one who can stand in front of him right now,” the 54-year-old said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
After being rested for Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, Azam will feature in the team’s upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand, which will begin on April 14 and consist of five T20Is and five ODIs.
Pakistan squad for T20I series against New Zealand:Â Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Zaman Khan
Pakistan squad for ODI series against New Zealand:Â Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Ihsanullah, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Usama Mir