‘Shadab is automatic choice to take captaincy in Babar’s absence’- Najam Sethi opens up on Babar Azam’s future as Pakistan skipper

Shadab Khan will lead Pakistan in their upcoming three-T20I series against Afghanistan in Sharjah after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) unexpectedly chose to rest captain Babar Azam and other first-choice players. On Sunday, Babar, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, and Fakhar Zaman were contacted by Najam Sethi, the chairman of the PCB Management Committee, and they were informed that they would receive relaxation. Also given a rest was Haris Rauf.

PCB selection committee head Haroon Rasheed said, “Babar will remain our captain in all the three formats. I have taken all the senior players into confidence, and they all will be part of the team in future; there’s no question about this. Shadab Khan has been the vice-captain and an automatic choice to take captaincy in Babar’s absence, so he will lead the side.”

Rizwan has played 150 matches in all formats (including domestic and international cricket) since January 2021, which is the second-highest total (after Rashid Khan’s 157 matches), behind Babar (127 matches) and Rauf (125).

‘Babar will remain captain until he decides to leave’ – Najam Sethi

Rashid Latif, a former captain of Pakistan, made a scathing attack on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management committee chairman, Najam Sethi, and Chief Selector, Haroon Rasheed, for destroying the Pakistan team’s combination. However, questions were raised over Babar Azam being rested for this series and Shadab Khan taking over.

Najam Sethi has now clarified that Babar will continue to captain the Pakistani squad in all formats, and it will be up to him to decide whether or not he wants to do so in any one or all of them

“There is no threat. Our established skipper Babar will remain the captain of our national squad until he himself decides whether he wants to leave captaincy of any one format or all three formats or he wants to remain the captain in all. It will totally be his call,” Sethi said. “I respect Babar a lot; he is our top star. I am very happy that he supported our decision to try youngsters against Afghanistan”, he added.