Shadab Khan: “Babar is our current captain as our chairman said, I am his ‘minister’ and he is the king”
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Shadab Khan, the Pakistan limited overs vice-captain, has made it clear that Babar Azam is the captain and “king” while he is his “minister”.
His comments come after there has been a lot of speculation about whether Azam will continue captaining the men in green in all three formats following a string of poor results.
Shadab is one of the players who could potentially replace the 28-year-old as captain should the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) opt for a leadership change.
This is due to the fact that he captains Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and steps in as Pakistan captain from time to time, with the most recent instance being the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, where Azam was rested.
Nonetheless, the 24-year-old from Mianwali insisted that Azam remains the leader of the Pakistan team while he will continue serving as his deputy.
“Babar is our current captain as our chairman said, I am his ‘minister’ and he is the king,” he was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
Azam will now captain Pakistan in their two-Test series against Sri Lanka from July 16 to 28, but Shadab was not included in the squad.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka Test Series:Â Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood