Legendary Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq wants the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to think long-term when picking the team’s captain, including Babar Azam. Mushtaq feels that Pakistan hasn’t had a good system for choosing a captain, which has hurt the team’s progress.
The former off-spinner also said that not having a solid plan has led to frequent changes in Pakistan’s captaincy. He urges the PCB to have a clear plan before deciding on a captain.
Saqlain Mushtaq says this about Babar Azam to PCB
In an interview with Cricket Pakistan, Saqlain Mushtaq said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) doesn’t have a good plan for choosing a long-term captain, and that’s why there are recent issues.
“If you’re picking a captain, do you think about the short term, long term, or mid term? What are you considering? We don’t seem to have a clear plan; we just look at what’s happening tomorrow and pick a captain, then change it the next day. Because the people making these decisions don’t know if they’ll be here tomorrow, there’s no long-term plan,” Mushtaq explained.
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He mentioned Shaheen Afridi as an example, who was given the captaincy for a short time, and then Babar Azam was brought back. Mushtaq said this short-term thinking by the PCB has led to too many changes, which isn’t good for the team.
“For example, Shaheen was captain for a short time and he’s already out. Now Babar is back, but only for a short time. There’s been just one World Cup, and now he’ll be changed. Someone else will come, and then there’s the Champions Trophy, and after that, the T20 World Cup,” Mushtaq said.
“If you want to build a leader, where does the idea of working together go? How will you work together? Without a plan, you’ll keep making anyone the captain. The more you change captains, the more time you’ll need for experiments. And before experimenting, you need a complete strategy and to consider the pros and cons,” he added.
Pakistan’s recent struggles with captaincy
Pakistan cricket has been struggling to find a solid long-term captain. After the 2023 ODI World Cup, Babar Azam stepped down as captain because Pakistan performed poorly, losing to Afghanistan and not making it to the semi-finals.
Shaheen Afridi was then made captain for the T20 matches. However, under Shaheen’s leadership, Pakistan lost a series 4-1 to New Zealand. After that, the new PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, removed Shaheen and brought Babar Azam back to lead the team for the T20 World Cup 2024.
But the issues didn’t stop there. Pakistan entered the T20 World Cup 2024 in bad form, losing a match to Ireland and suffering a crushing series defeat to England before the tournament.
With the next white-ball series coming up in November 2024, the PCB is taking its time to decide on Babar Azam’s future as captain. If Babar is removed, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan are potential options for the role. Shan Masood will remain as Pakistan’s Test captain.