Atiq-uz-Zaman: “Bring a captain that you think can stay in the team for 10 years and he must have leadership skills. One name that comes in my mind is Saud Shakeel”
Image courtesy of: Unsplash
Former cricketer Atiq-uz-Zaman believes middle order batsman Saud Shakeel should be Pakistan’s next captain as he is “a young guy” and can “stay in the team for 10 years”.
His comments come after Shakeel was recently named Pakistan’s vice-captain in Test cricket.
Currently, Shan Masood leads Pakistan in Tests, while Babar Azam is the country’s limited overs captain.
However, it remains to be seen if Azam will keep hold of his leadership role following the men in green’s dismal performance in the 2024 T20 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage.
Should the white-ball captaincy become available in the near future, Atiq reiterated that he feels Shakeel is the best candidate for the job.
“What we need to think is that we have not developed a captain. When Misbah (ul-Haq) was there, there was a sudden change but the captain was not developed. After him, there [were changes] as well with Azhar Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, etc. Sarfaraz was one person who had leadership qualities, and fought for the team and made them fight as well,” he told PakPassion.
“I think the PCB and the management and the chairman should think outside the box now. Bring a captain that you think can stay in the team for 10 years and he must have leadership skills. One name that comes in my mind is Saud Shakeel as he has captained in Under-19, Pakistan A, etc. This is completely out of the box and he is a young guy.”
Shakeel will now be involved in Pakistan’s two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which will be played in Rawalpindi and Karachi from August 21 to September 3.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi
[TS_Poll id=”72″]