Not Rizwan Or Shaheen! Pakistan Consider 3 Suprising Names To Replace Babar Azam As White-Ball Captain: Report

Pakistan are searching for Babar Azam's replacement as ODI and T20I Captain Photo : AP

KEY HIGHLIGHTS Pakistan are searching for a new ODI and T20I captain

Babar Azam stepped down from the top job

Mohammed Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi are not in contention

Babar Azam officially stepped down as Pakistan's captain in all formats in November last year after their disastrous campaign in the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Shan Masood replaced him as Test captain and Shaheen Afridi was named the new T20I skipper.

However, Shaheen was removed from the top job after just one series, and Babar was reappointed in March this year. However, the second tenure for the star Pakistan batter was unsuccessful, as the Men in Green crashed out of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the group stage after a humiliating defeat to the minnows USA and arch-rivals India.

Who Will Replace Babar Azam As Captain? While Mohammad Rizwan was reported to have been the leading contender to take the top job from Babar, and Shaheen remained in the discussions, having led Pakistan less than 12 months ago, it has now emerged that neither is among the names Pakistan is considering for the captaincy.

According to a report by GEO Super, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has shortlisted Fakhar Azam, Saud Shakeel , and Salman Agha for the top job.

While Fakhar is a regular in the playing XI in both ODI and T20Is for Pakistan, Shakeel and Afgha are part of the ODI teams. Interestingly, Shakeel was named as the vice-captain of the Test team for the Bangladesh and England series ahead of Babar, Rizwan, and Shaheen.

The same report claims that white-ball coach Gary Kirsten is against the appointment of Rizwan as captain due to the heavy workload on him being the first-choice wicket-keeper batter of the side in all three formats.

The published information further claims that Kirsten tried to convince Babar to stay in charge of the ODI team during the connection camp. However, Babar did not want to keep the role due to a 'distance with the team' and a 'lack of value for himself.'

As things stand, Masood has retained the Test captaincy despite losing each of his first five Test matches in charge. The 34-year-old is the first Pakistan captain in history to register the unwanted record.

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