Zaka Ashraf: “I suggested that he should focus on playing as a team member for Pakistan, as it was clear that he was finding it challenging to cope with the pressure of [the] captaincy”
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Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf confirmed that Babar Azam found it “challenging to cope with the pressure of [the] captaincy” prior to resigning in November 2023.
Azam had been leading the men in green in all three formats before giving up the leadership role, even though Ashraf offered him the chance to stay on as Test skipper.
The 29-year-old was subsequently replaced by Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who took charge of the Test side and T20I team respectively.
However, Afridi’s tenure would only last one series as after playing five T20Is against New Zealand in January 2024, rumours started to emerge about a change in leadership.
Eventually, Azam was brought back as limited overs captain, while Afridi was left to rue what he did wrong and why he wasn’t given more time to lead the T20I side.
“I offered to retain Babar Azam as the captain for red-ball cricket, but we wanted to appoint a new captain for white-ball cricket. He responded by stating that if he were to be replaced as captain in one format, he would rather step down from captaincy in all formats,” Ashraf was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“Consequently, I suggested that he should focus on playing as a team member for Pakistan, as it was clear that he was finding it challenging to cope with the pressure of [the] captaincy.”
Azam recently captained the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and was the highest run-scorer with 569 runs in 11 games, which included a century and five fifties, at an average of 56.90 and a strike-rate of 142.60.
He will now lead Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which will be played in Rawalpindi and Lahore from April 18 to 27.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series:Â Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Zaman Khan
Non-travelling reserves:Â Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha