Najam Sethi: “We made an interim selection committee when we took charge. Before the selectors came on board, they told us that there will need to be some changes and Babar needs to be replaced as captain as well”
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Najam Sethi, the outgoing Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, said when Shahid Afridi was the interim chief selector, he and his selection committee wanted to get rid of Babar Azam as captain.
Sethi noted that before Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Rao Iftikhar Anjum came on board, they informed him of their desire to strip Azam of the leadership role.
The 28-year-old currently captains Pakistan in all three formats of the game.
However, after Afridi and the other selectors began their tenure, they ended up changing their minds and decided to stick with Azam.
A new selection committee is now in place, with Haroon Rasheed having been named chief selector.
“I say it again and again. I don’t take decisions like these [changing captain] myself. I take advice from people whom I trust,” Sethi was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“We made an interim selection committee when we took charge. Before the selectors came on board, they told us that there will need to be some changes and Babar needs to be replaced as captain as well. However, as soon as they were appointed, they said there is no need to replace Babar. I told them that you are entitled to change your mind.”
Azam will now lead Pakistan in a tw0-Test series against Sri Lanka, which will be played in Galle and Colombo from July 16 to 28.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka Test Series: 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