Shoaib Akhtar: “In times to come, he is not a bad option for captaincy for Pakistan in white-ball cricket”
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Shoaib Akhtar has backed Shadab Khan to replace Babar Azam as Pakistan’s ODI and T20I captain in the future.
Azam currently leads the men in green in all three formats, but there has been a lot of talk lately about whether he is overburdened, especially considering the national team hasn’t been achieving the results expected of them.
While it seems the 28-year-old will continue to be backed for now, Akhtar feels 24-year-old Shadab is the perfect successor should the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) opt to split the captaincy or remove Azam from the leadership role completely.
Shadab does have leadership experience as he captains Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
“In times to come, he is not a bad option for captaincy for Pakistan in white-ball cricket,” the Rawalpindi Express was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Shadab’s last assignment for Pakistan was their five-match ODI series against New Zealand, where he took three wickets in three matches at an average of 56.
Azam, meanwhile, scored 276 runs in five games, which included a hundred and two half-centuries, at an average of 55.20.
He then made 76 runs at an average of 25.33 in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which the men in green won 2-0.
Pakistan will now take on Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series, which will be played in Sri Lanka from August 22 to 26.
After that, they will participate in the Asia Cup, which will take place in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17.
Pakistan Squad for Afghanistan ODI Series and 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel (Afghanistan series only), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr