Fakhar Zaman, Saud Shakeel likely to be named Pakistan captain after departure of Babar Azam
Fakhar Saud Shakeel Pakistan Cricket Board is now at a stage of choosing the next candidates for its captaincy since former skipper Babar Azam resigned from the Pakistan cricket team. Sources say that former top-order batsman for Pakistan, Fakhar Zaman, and all-rounder Salman Ali Agha along with Saud Shakeel are all hot contenders for the position.
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Recently, Saud Shakeel was made vice-captain.
Of course, Shakeel has been picked as deputy captain, replacing Muhammad Rizwan, for the two Test matches against Bangladesh, and his batting performance did impress the selection committee. Aggressive opener Fakhar Zaman, who captained Lahore Qalandars in PSL, is also in the fray.
All-rounder Salman Ali Agha is yet to take on the responsibility at national level despite looking extremely capable.
Earlier, wicket-keeper Muhammad Rizwan was being considered for the role.
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In this connection, Gary Kirsten is quoted as saying,
In this connection, Gary Kirsten said that Rizwan could not handle the burden of performing and hosting in all three formats. According to the source, Kirsten went to Pakistan in July for the meetings and brief him about the T20 World Cup. The source also maintained that the coach met Babar in the same month and discussed the issue of captaincy with him. Kirsten could finally convince Babar to become the ODI captain during the link camp, said the source.
The 29-year-old was not convinced to retain the armband of captaincy due to distance from the team and lack of self-esteem, the source said, adding that he had gone out of touch with the board after the World Cup.
Resignation of Babar as captaincy
Babar was not called either as part of the consultation process. However, he had communicated his decision to the top administrative officials of the board before announcing his resignation.
Interestingly, Babar’s resignation has come as captaincy at a time when the criticism against him is sharp, especially when Pakistan failed in the Asia Cup and did the same in the World Cup, where the team crashed before entering the semis.