Pakistan national cricket team captain Babar Azam is expected to keep his post in all three formats until at least the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had earlier given the 28-year-old conditional backing based on the results of the international side. PCB’s acting head Najam Sethi had only announced Babar as captain for the New Zealand series with his future in the post still murky.
However, it is being reported that new team director Mickey Arthur has backed Babar Azam as the captain of the side until at least the 2023 ODI World Cup during his brief visit with the team to maintain unity ahead of the tournament.
Najam Sethi had already announced that Arthur will have a significant say on who the new captain is and the 54-year-old seems to be content with the results under Babar’s leadership for now.
An official announcement is expected in due time.
Babar Azam’s role as captain in all three formats has come under scrutiny in recent times despite the team delivering positive results under his guidance. With Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shadab Khan all capable of taking over, the pressure has increased even further on Babar.
But if the team consistently keeps delivering, it will be hard to remove him from the post.
2023 is a critical year for the Green Shirts with the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup scheduled to be held in back-to-back months.
