Babar Azam and Shan Masood are the current captains of Pakistan’s T20I and Test teams, and despite the team’s poor performances under their leadership in recent matches, they are unlikely to lose their jobs. According to a report in news agency PTI on Monday, Pakistan’s white-ball and Test team head coaches, Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie, have advised PCB against changing the captains.
Many former greats and experts of the game have questioned Babar’s captaincy after Pakistan failed to qualify for the Super 8s of T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA, whereas Masood has heavily criticised after Pakistan suffered back-to-back defeats in Tests against Bangladesh.
Masood, who was appointed as Pakistan’s Test captain last year, has lost all five Tests played so far as captain.
“There has been no discussion on changing the captains as the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has left it up to the two coaches and selectors to decide on the captaincy,” a PCB source was quoted as saying by PTI.
“And Kirsten and Gillespie are very clear that Shan and Babar both need to be given a proper run before judging their leadership abilities,” he added.
According to the source, both coaches want continuity in captaincy and have conveyed this to the board very clearly. He also made it clear that the captaincy or team selections would not be up for discussion when the board holds its one-day workshop titled Cricket Connection later this month in Lahore.
“That workshop is being held to hear the views of all stakeholders, mainly the domestic team coaches, selectors, and contracted players, so that the board is able to bridge the gap between domestic cricket and international cricket standards,” he said.
It has also been reported that Babar, who stepped down from Pakistan’s ODI captaincy last year after Men in Green failed to qualify for the ODI World Cup 2023 semifinals, is likely to be reappointed as the captain of the 50-over side again. He is expected to lead the 2017 Champions Trophy winners in ODI series against Australia and South Africa later this year and then in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 as well.
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