Babar Azam adieu on his captaincy for all formats of cricket for Pakistan in the year gone by when the Men in Green could not make it to the semifinal of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup that took place solely in India. Yet following a new development in the management of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) earlier in the year, Babar was reinstated back as the captain of Pakistan and took charge of the team during the T20 World Cup 2024. However, after the national team of Pakistan failed to advance further than the group stages within the tournament, there were outcries for Babar to be dismissed from his position and through a tweet, dated October 2, the right-handed batter, aged 30, announced that he was resigning from his position as captain of Pakistan.
Thus, following Babar’s candidature resignation, when the invested partied expressed their disappointment in the decision of the PCB, most people concluded it was in effect the twisted arm of Babar himself, that while taking arresting questions from irritated reporters, a few days later, held a press conference, and refuted the allegation. It was his decision and that nobody did.
According to him, Babar “didn’t want to be captain” and “no one forced him to resign as captain.”.
“In Babar, he is an asset to Pakistan. Such towering figures come once in a blue moon after a long time. He had contacted me and said, ‘Mohsin bhai I do not wish to continue as a captain in the team.’ No one did anything to him; a lot of things came in between, but let me tell you that no one from the PCB approached him that you have to leave captaincy or do something else, it was his own. First, he spoke to the other coaches, and other people, and then he came to me and said he does not want to continue as a captain (Babar is an asset. He spoke to me, and he told me he didn’t want to be captain, and let me make it clear that no one forced him to resign as captain. It is his own personal decision. He had sought advice before resigning),” Naqvi said.
“Whatever his decision was… He wants to concentrate more on his game and all of us want him to bounce back to his form and perform as he used to , he added.”
PCB held a press conference in which first Mohammad Rizwan was presented as the new white-ball skipper of the Pakistan men’s cricket team and then it also announced the appointment of Salman Ali Agha as his deputy.
Naqvi’s version of the facts was: After Babar’s decision, I spoke to all selectors and five mentors and the issue was discussed, there was a consensus that Rizwan should be made captain in white ball with Salman Ali Agha vice captain.
Rizwan, a full-time member of the Pakistani team in all three formats, will officially begin his captaincy responsibilities on November 4, during the first one-day international against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
