Pakistan batter Babar Azam has faced scrutiny over his captaincy during a disappointing home season however, Pakistan Cricket Board chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq on Wednesday said that the top-ranking batter in ODI is performing well as a captain, it would be prudent to have a backup captaincy option available. In December 2020 Babar was named Pakistan’s captain across all formats. Babar Azam is a name that quickly springs to mind when conversations revolve around the world’s premier batters at present. With his graceful style of play, he has been consistently amassing runs, leading to comparisons with cricket legends, including the esteemed Indian player Virat Kohli.
Inzamam-ul-Haq admitted that all formats should have a single captain to make batter decisions to know which players to choose for matches. So that the captain now knows which player to carry.
“See, lot of changes in captaincy is not good. I think Babar is doing great captaincy, and when I was chief selector before, Sarfaraz Ahmed was not captain of all three formats, but he became captain of all three formats later. So, I feel, there should be one captain of all three formats, if he plays in all three formats. So, he should know how he has to take his players forward. But, this captaincy doesn’t come under my domain,” Inzamam-ul-Haq said in a press conference.
The 28-year-old Pakistan captain has played in 104 T20Is, 100 ODIs, and 49 Tests. He is a star in each of all three forms. He currently has 12346 runs, including 30 centuries, to his name at the top level.
Talking about his performance in the ODI, every time Babar Azam comes onto the pitch, there are expectations of him due to the high standards he has set in ODIs. He is the top-ranked ODI batsman, which makes it more obvious. Babar has barely ever been out of form in the 50-over format, scoring more than 5000 runs at an average of nearly 60.
In his upcoming assignments, Babar is set to lead the Pakistan team in the ODI series against Afghanistan and Asia Cup.
Earlier in the press conference Inzamam-ul-Haq announced a 17-member team for the upcoming ACC Men’s Asia Cup. The Asia Cup will kick off on August 30, with arch-rivals India and Pakistan set to lock horns in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on September 2. The tournament will follow a hybrid model, with four matches to be hosted by Pakistan and all of India’s matches and a total of nine fixtures taking place in the Emerald Isle.
Pakistan’s squad for Asia Cup: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Nawaz and Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.
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