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Captaincy - Who else but Babar Azam?

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I am hoping for a new dedicated thread for captaincy options. Majority of the discussions are centered around Babar and Rizwan as players, if their places are justified etc.

If not Babar, do we even have a good captain? I somehow do not see Shaheen as a choice (happy to stand corrected if I'm wrong). Many touted Imad and we saw yesterday Imad's competency as a player (let alone a captain).

Without the right leadership, the team will continue this way with disjointed (and dispirited efforts). If captaincy is taken away from Babar today, who is there to replace him? Rizwan? Shadab? Fakhar? Should Pakistan make a very left field bold move to let go of all the entitled seniors, rebuild the team ground up with very young players and have someone like Naseem as the new captain? This would be a short term loss but a long term gain?
 
No one from this playing 11 deserves to be a captain. Its better to call Saud Shakeel into the T20 format and make him a captain as he has already proven in the PSL that he can play with a good strike rate.
 
Cricket Warrior said:
No one from this playing 11 deserves to be a captain. Its better to call Saud Shakeel into the T20 format and make him a captain as he has already proven in the PSL that he can play with a good strike rate.
Click to expand...
The same Saud Shakeel playing the psl where Usman khan and Azam khan are the regaining kings and Shakeel sb can't score a run?

Once he fails let's also give saim a go at captaincy
 
Mamoon said:
Babar Azam is the only Pakistan captain to give Pakistani fans joy & happiness after a World Cup game vs India.

He is the only Pakistan captain to win a World Cup game vs India. Imran, Wasim, Waqar, Malik, Afridi, Hafeez, Misbah and Sarfaraz all tried but failed.

It was his destiny and God chose him. If He wanted, he could have had any other captain before him achieve this honor but it was meant for Babar Azam.

“And He honours whom He wills, and He disgraces whom He wills”

Quran 3:26
Click to expand...
Sure, but then just taking this very line of logic along, God is now humiliating him for having become arrogant and selfish, believing into the over-the-top, false hype that was artificially manufactured that he was bigger than the team and the game. He indeed was blessed with the world at his feet at one point, had everything laid out on the platter, but he chose to go on the path of degeneracy. Such a shame, really.

The worst thing he did, which he deserves every bit of criticism and humiliation for, is not continuining to strive to become a better cricketer — It is very apparent to see that his game has not just stagnated, i.e. exactly the same as where it was a couple or so years ago, but even declined. Just the dad bod he's managed to build over the years, for a sportsman who has been the captain and face of his country's cricket team for over 4 years, is the clearest visible indication that he started believing he is bigger than the game and the team he represents.
 
I would actually hand the captaincy to Fakhr Zaman or Rizwan. Drop Shadab, Imad, Amir & Ifty for good. Put Shaheen on red notice.

Any player that sabotages the team interest should be banned by the PCB from both domestic and international cricket.

Redline should be set.
 
You make shadab or rizwan captin nothing will change as they have alliances with the current crop of players..

Shan Masood for captain in all formats!

Don’t matter his record is not great in t20 or ODI - Pakistan need a good captain - we have had king bobzy as captain - great player - look where that got us as opposed to sarfaraz who was a brilliant captain.

Shan masood…
 
Fanti78 said:
You make shadab or rizwan captin nothing will change as they have alliances with the current crop of players..

Shan Masood for captain in all formats!

Don’t matter his record is not great in t20 or ODI - Pakistan need a good captain - we have had king bobzy as captain - great player - look where that got us as opposed to sarfaraz who was a brilliant captain.

Shan masood…
Click to expand...
Yes, Australia escaping at 16/4 at the MCG was a great example of Shan “I average 28 in Test cricket” Masood’s captaincy.
 
_Ace_ said:
Sure, but then just taking this very line of logic along, God is now humiliating him for having become arrogant and selfish, believing into the over-the-top, false hype that was artificially manufactured that he was bigger than the team and the game. He indeed was blessed with the world at his feet at one point, had everything laid out on the platter, but he chose to go on the path of degeneracy. Such a shame, really.

The worst thing he did, which he deserves every bit of criticism and humiliation for, is not continuining to strive to become a better cricketer — It is very apparent to see that his game has not just stagnated, i.e. exactly the same as where it was a couple or so years ago, but even declined. Just the dad bod he's managed to build over the years, for a sportsman who has been the captain and face of his country's cricket team for over 4 years, is the clearest visible indication that he started believing he is bigger than the game and the team he represents.
Click to expand...
There is no humiliation.

He is still Pakistan’s captain and the biggest name in Pakistan cricket. Criticism of a section of fans mean nothing.
 
No popular opinion Make Rizwan the captain. I don’t see anybody else fit to be the captain. Make Rizwan the captain, discard Shadab, Imad, Iftikhar, Azam and rebuild the team.
 
Mamoon said:
There is no humiliation.

He is still Pakistan’s captain and the biggest name in Pakistan cricket. Criticism of a section of fans mean nothing.
Click to expand...
Well I have news for you - king bobzy will dethroned at the end of the tournament - in fact with rain looming for tomorrows game which will mean the end of the road for Pakistan it may even come sooner….
 
Fanti78 said:
You make shadab or rizwan captin nothing will change as they have alliances with the current crop of players..

Shan Masood for captain in all formats!

Don’t matter his record is not great in t20 or ODI - Pakistan need a good captain - we have had king bobzy as captain - great player - look where that got us as opposed to sarfaraz who was a brilliant captain.

Shan masood…
Click to expand...
I agree I know its not a popular opinion. But need to go with someone different, I liked his captancy in Australia and he seems like a smart character. You need someone with brains a thinking captain.

I also feel he is someone who will get better as a captain and even as a player if he is given that responsibilty
 
stani_pak said:
I agree I know its not a popular opinion. But need to go with someone different, I liked his captancy in Australia and he seems like a smart character. You need someone with brains a thinking captain.

I also feel he is someone who will get better as a captain and even as a player if he is given that responsibilty
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His captaining Yorkshire in all formats at the moment with likes of Joe root under him and county cricket is no fraud like psl - so you should get a honest captain out of him
 
Mamoon said:
There is no humiliation.

He is still Pakistan’s captain and the biggest name in Pakistan cricket. Criticism of a section of fans mean nothing.
Click to expand...
Self-defeating argument. Pakistan cricket is a joke at this point, he has now become the very face of everything that is rotten messed up with Pakistan cricket.

As for captaincy, he is soon going to be sacked from captaincy for the second time within a handful of months, this time by the very management that re-instated him after he was thrown out the first time and decided to back him until the the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. He will likely send in his resignation soon as a face saving formality. The humiliation is real — Every bit deserved for thinking his boots had become bigger than the game and the team.

So now, I will quote this beautiful verse from the Quran that you brought up earlier:

“And He honours whom He wills, and He disgraces whom He wills”
Quran 3:26
 
there was hope that Babar Azam reincarnation will change things, but on the contrary it seems team is not on same page and as captain Babar is at fault, surely time to introspect or may be move on
 
Fakhar Zaman as captain, Nasim Shah as vice captain for both white ball teams.
Behind the scene let Gary Kirsten fully groom and guide them on all key decisions.
They are both having right mind set, play with passion, aggression, don't have many groupings, discipline issues. Have good fitness, decent fielding, etc.
Kick out all the oldies/non performers and develop a new team under them over next 2 years.
Another alternative would be Salman Ali Agha he seems to have a good mature head but issue is he isn't a permanent fixture and people will not respect him due to our culture.

Remove all ttfs and even performing older players that have poor fitness or wont last till next world cup, this includes:
Amir, Imad, Shadab, Azam, Ifti, Haris Rauf, Usman

Retain Babar, Rizwan (backup keeper), Saim, Nasim, Fakhar, Shaheen, Abbas Afridi, Abrar.

Add Mohammad Haris, Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafiq, Salman Agha, Irfan Niazj, Usama Mir, Muhammad Ali, Aamer Jamal.

Groom them for modern game, high fitness, fielding, strategy, etc and see if they adapt to it. Most of them are younger and could evolve.

They may lose few series but our so called first x1 is losing also but they are not learning or too old to learn.
 
Tbh, whatever name you take instead of him will not be liked by many. Shadab ?? Nope...misfit
Rizwan??? His place is in jeopardy now.
Shaheen??? People will ask why removed him after 1 series... Many question will rise.
Who else !
 
SSA was backstabbed by his team mate and unceremoniously expelled from captainship. You can't go back and beg him to lead the team once again.

Riz has scored enough runs for himself. Cleverly and cunning worked hard to get runs under his belt but at the same time managed to see it won't help the team cross the line.

There is no one else capable of leading this team at the moment other than Riz. Should be invited for being a shrewd customer.
:inti
 
BouncerGuy said:
Tbh, whatever name you take instead of him will not be liked by many. Shadab ?? Nope...misfit
Rizwan??? His place is in jeopardy now.
Shaheen??? People will ask why removed him after 1 series... Many question will rise.
Who else !
Click to expand...
Muhammad haris and give him the acc emerging cup team plain and simple.

No babar, No rizwan, No shaheen, No Rauf, no shadab, no one.

Just a brand new captain who like sarfraz before he captained has wins under his belt in domestic and in A league international tournaments.

Haris and his team.
 
I think Babar, Rizwan and Shaheen should sit out for the next few series and let a young team flourish , they can join the team in place of youngsters who fail to capitalize the chances they got
 
We can try Saad Baig as our PCT captain , he is probably the 2nd best captain we ever had after Imran Khan, knows how to utilize every bowler's strength and is thinking out of the box style strategist, He can learn how to bat through on job training , This is the only way forward , our U19 cricketers will not develop much playing in our rotten domestic setup but they can accelerate their learning by playing quality oppositions , Yea it's a risky strategy as 70% of these players will not swim but sink but the 30% will learn the ropes and become worldclass it's a facts as well , if you are expose to harsher enviroment from a very young age you then start to cope and learn how to manage in this environment , same applies to the young cricketers , if they got expose to International level bowling at young age they will learn how to manage it as well but only the strong minded and confident players will learn and manage and we don't wont wimpy players anyway ,so let them weed out.
 
I don't see any captaincy replacement right now. Captaincy discussion can be held later. For starters, Babar, Shaheen and Rizwan should be rested for games vs minnows and C teams for next 6 months atleast. I don't see Kohli playing minnows outside ICC events. This will give tension free environment for new players to express themselves. For those who want Rizwan as captain, Babar and Rizwan are same thing. They both protect each other's interests and favorite players.
 
Pakistan can go out of box and appoint Saud as captain . Saud plays at number 3 . While Saim and Fakhar open . Babar , Rizwan , shadab should be kicked out of T20.
 
Rizwan should be made captain which may not improve the team but captaincy itself may improve..Team is in infancy note it and 2 years time frame should be given to make it one of top 4 teams ..In this phase there should be alot of experiments keeping long term intrest of the team in mind ..Babar should be concentrating on his batting rather than captaincy which is not natural to him ...Patience in team building without any pressure for instant success is the way forward..A good coach in kirstien is a good beginning..
 
Rizwan and Babar are same thing. Both are close friends and protect each other's interests and favorite players.
 
Can Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Shadab play under another captain? The mafia is ruling the PSL - so how can the PCB get new blood and force this clique to obey?

As long as any of these four are captains, nothing will change. T20 is the most played format with all the money so asking them to turn their attention to test cricket is not going to happen.

The PCB can put their foot down and appoint a new captain and ask the mafia to knuckle under. Show the players on who is the boss.
 
Shan would have been captain of this side had he had a decent PSL. He was the main man in the eyes of the PCB.

Now I am not so sure who will get it. What is known for a fact is that Babar will be dropped unless somehow we qualify and the team goes on a crazy run.
 
New team

Salman Agha
Asif Ali (captain)
Saud Shakil
M Haris
Faisal Akram
Naseem
Abdullah Shafique
Wasim Jr
Zaman Khan
Abrar
Amir
Abbas Afridi
 
Fanti78 said:
You make shadab or rizwan captin nothing will change as they have alliances with the current crop of players..

Shan Masood for captain in all formats!

Don’t matter his record is not great in t20 or ODI - Pakistan need a good captain - we have had king bobzy as captain - great player - look where that got us as opposed to sarfaraz who was a brilliant captain.

Shan masood…
Click to expand...

Strongly agree - Shan Masood needs to take over. Anyone else made captain from the current team it’s going to be the same old story. I think Masood as captain will add some much needed stability and tbh his recent t20 form hasn’t been too bad domestically. Play him in the middle order too num 4/5
 
I think Shan needs to be made captain and a deputy chosen(preferably young ish) to be groomed as the next captain. I would love to choose naseem as VC, but I am not so sure. To give him such a responsibility at a young age plus leading him to captain in future is something that I don’t want. Possibly affect his performances or simply put I don’t even want Naseem to be in the middle of the mad captaincy chair that is ever present in this Pak team. He doesn’t deserve it. Pak is lucky to have him. Imagine the back flash after few bad performances, treatment of players is crazy in Pak Cricket. Whoever is made VC should be groomed to be the next captain by Masood. This is the best possible scenario for Pak
 
With all the politics surrounding our cricket at the moment, Babar has to remain captain until all the politics in cricket is sorted. Once our cricket board become slightly stable we can then hope for a new captain to step in
 
Extra_Cover said:
With all the politics surrounding our cricket at the moment, Babar has to remain captain until all the politics in cricket is sorted. Once our cricket board become slightly stable we can then hope for a new captain to step in
Click to expand...
What planet do you live on - his already walking dead - his captaincy is over!
 
Shan Masood
Naseem Shah
Mohammad Haris

I cant think of any other player. These three surely aren't part of the clique. Shaheen could have been tried, but his ego has cost us another World Cup. The right thing is to have Shan lead us in all three formats and groom either Naseem or Haris as limited overs VC.
 
I love how people want the worst batsman in Pakistan history (Shan Masood) to captain the team.

As if him captaining the Test side with an average of 28 is not ridiculous enough. Oh wait, I’m sorry I forgot about his brilliant captaincy in Australia that resulted in a 3-0 whitewash and allowed Australia to escape at the MCG at 16/4.
 
Rumours circulating, Sarfraz to return as T20 captain with Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad also being considered basically back to TTFs galore , team might look like this

AbShafiq
Fakhar
Haris
Umar
Salman
Sarfraz+c
Jamal
Abass
SSA
Naseem
Mir/Rauf
 
Kianig89 said:
Rumours circulating, Sarfraz to return as T20 captain with Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad also being considered basically back to TTFs galore , team might look like this

AbShafiq
Fakhar
Haris
Umar
Salman
Sarfraz+c
Jamal
Abass
SSA
Naseem
Mir/Rauf
Click to expand...
Fake news!

Stop this
 
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Mamoon said:
I love how people want the worst batsman in Pakistan history (Shan Masood) to captain the team.

As if him captaining the Test side with an average of 28 is not ridiculous enough. Oh wait, I’m sorry I forgot about his brilliant captaincy in Australia that resulted in a 3-0 whitewash and allowed Australia to escape at the MCG at 16/4.
Click to expand...
Who do you suggest?
 
Minnowbasher said:
Who do you suggest?
Click to expand...
Captaincy discussion is irrelevant when the team is not good enough.

If people think Pakistan is a good team that is being held back by Babar’s captaincy, they are wrong.

You can make anyone captain, the outcome will be the same.

Therefore, I wouldn’t worry about removing Babar but I will worry about trying to find a group of players who are good enough.

As far as Test cricket is concerned, then Masood himself is a problem because a Test batsman who averages 28 after a sizable sample and who is 35 already is nowhere near good enough to be an automatic selection so when you make a player like him as captain, you are severely crippling yourself.

At least Babar’s place in the team as a batsman will never be questioned and he is still fairly young and he doesn’t have any injury issues either makes his availability a problem.

Once, or if, you find a group of quality players and the results start speaking of themselves, then you can look at the group and see if there is anyone besides Babar who can take this good team and elevate it to a higher level.

However, until then, there is no point in looking at alternatives because there aren’t any.
 
Mamoon said:
Captaincy discussion is irrelevant when the team is not good enough.

If people think Pakistan is a good team that is being held back by Babar’s captaincy, they are wrong.

You can make anyone captain, the outcome will be the same.

Therefore, I wouldn’t worry about removing Babar but I will worry about trying to find a group of players who are good enough.

As far as Test cricket is concerned, then Masood himself is a problem because a Test batsman who averages 28 after a sizable sample and who is 35 already is nowhere near good enough to be an automatic selection so when you make a player like him as captain, you are severely crippling yourself.

At least Babar’s place in the team as a batsman will never be questioned and he is still fairly young and he doesn’t have any injury issues either makes his availability a problem.

Once, or if, you find a group of quality players and the results start speaking of themselves, then you can look at the group and see if there is anyone besides Babar who can take this good team and elevate it to a higher level.

However, until then, there is no point in looking at alternatives because there aren’t any.
Click to expand...
In summary, King karlega.
 
mon858 said:
Fakhar Zaman as captain, Nasim Shah as vice captain for both white ball teams.
Behind the scene let Gary Kirsten fully groom and guide them on all key decisions.
They are both having right mind set, play with passion, aggression, don't have many groupings, discipline issues. Have good fitness, decent fielding, etc.
Kick out all the oldies/non performers and develop a new team under them over next 2 years.
Another alternative would be Salman Ali Agha he seems to have a good mature head but issue is he isn't a permanent fixture and people will not respect him due to our culture.

Remove all ttfs and even performing older players that have poor fitness or wont last till next world cup, this includes:
Amir, Imad, Shadab, Azam, Ifti, Haris Rauf, Usman

Retain Babar, Rizwan (backup keeper), Saim, Nasim, Fakhar, Shaheen, Abbas Afridi, Abrar.

Add Mohammad Haris, Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafiq, Salman Agha, Irfan Niazj, Usama Mir, Muhammad Ali, Aamer Jamal.

Groom them for modern game, high fitness, fielding, strategy, etc and see if they adapt to it. Most of them are younger and could evolve.

They may lose few series but our so called first x1 is losing also but they are not learning or too old to learn.
Click to expand...
A very reasonable post. Agreed on Fakhar and Naseem both having a great mentality. I was gonna write the same thing btw
Why drop Amir? He’s just 32 and looks like the most mature fast bowler in this team. Also, too early to take a call on Usman. Let him play a few more games.
 
Rizwan has a captaincy brain but I don't think he will be the captain. Babar will continue for another year or so.
 
There are rumors on social media that Shaheen may be made a scapegoat to protect Babar. Babar is a politician if he survives this, then i will have no doubt that he is the man behind all the tragedy that happened to Pakistan cricket recently.
 
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BouncerGuy said:
Well, you don't have a ricky pointing or Dhoni waiting in line. What's your pick?
Click to expand...
I genuinely don’t care anymore

I am asking you why do you think Rizwan should be the captain? Is it because he scores a 50 every 3rd game?
 
Rana said:
I am asking you why do you think Rizwan should be the captain? Is it because he scores a 50 every 3rd game?
Click to expand...
from the current options, we have nobody who has been the captain of any domestic side apart from RIz. PSL, KPK region. He won them titles. Not saying he should be made captain right away but there is no way PCB is thinking about someone like Shan or Naseem or fakhar. Nay
 
BouncerGuy said:
from the current options, we have nobody who has been the captain of any domestic side apart from RIz. PSL, KPK region. He won them titles. Not saying he should be made captain right away but there is no way PCB is thinking about someone like Shan or Naseem or fakhar. Nay
Click to expand...
Rizwan should be in the team? What position?
 
Rana said:
Rizwan should be in the team? What position?
Click to expand...
That is something we have discussed a lot. Talk about possible options brother?

If you don't care as you mentioned above, then you should not care if Riz is made the captain and opens as well...LOL
 
BouncerGuy said:
That is something we have discussed a lot. Talk about possible options brother?

If you don't care as you mentioned above, then you should not care if Riz is made the captain and opens as well...LOL
Click to expand...
But you care though? You love this team don’t you? Why do you think he should captain and open?
 
Rana said:
But you care though? You love this team don’t you? Why do you think he should captain and open?
Click to expand...
I never said that I wanted to see him as the next captain. I took a name like others are taking. SHAN???? woaaahhh....

I will take riz any day over Shan. Heck, I will even make Shaheen captain again. It is not like I am expecting any change in this team. We are minnows now.
 
BouncerGuy said:
I never said that I wanted to see him as the next captain. I took a name like others are taking. SHAN???? woaaahhh....

I will take riz any day over Shan. Heck, I will even make Shaheen captain again. It is not like I am expecting any change in this team. We are minnows now.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. It seems like you are all confused about how you want to move forward.

Let me put it this way, What kind of team do you want to build? What sort of approach do you want to take with your cricket?
 
Mamoon said:
I love how people want the worst batsman in Pakistan history (Shan Masood) to captain the team.

As if him captaining the Test side with an average of 28 is not ridiculous enough. Oh wait, I’m sorry I forgot about his brilliant captaincy in Australia that resulted in a 3-0 whitewash and allowed Australia to escape at the MCG at 16/4.
Click to expand...
I don't think many want Shan. But there is a sense of inevitability around it. The PCB have appeared to have captaincy on a plate to him many times, he just needs to do the bare minimum to get it but each time he has blown it.

If he had done ANYTHING of note in the PSL he would have been the skipper for this WC.


We have two non-Pakistani coaches who would much rather work with him than the other options on the table which also helps his case.
 
Rana said:
Fair enough. It seems like you are all confused about how you want to move forward.

Let me put it this way, What kind of team do you want to build? What sort of approach do you want to take with your cricket?
Click to expand...
Team without one match wonder kids and league bullies like AZAM, Iftikhar, Shadab, Saim.
 
BouncerGuy said:
Team without one match wonder kids and league bullies like AZAM, Iftikhar, Shadab, Saim.
Click to expand...
Fair enough.

What’s your team for the 2026 wc? Which set of XI players are you going to invest in?

Also, what kind of approach are you looking for? 220 or 170?
 
Any of these is a better option than Babar:

Amer Jamal
Saud Shakeel
Abdullah Shafique
Mohammad Amir
Naseem Shah
Shaheen
Shan Masood (if he gives up the Xmas gift nonsense)
Sarfraz


If we want to scrape the barrel even chacha, even Azam Khan, anyone and everyone (apart from Rizwan cos he’ll just be Babar II)
 
Rana said:
Fair enough.

What’s your team for the 2026 wc? Which set of XI players are you going to invest in?

Also, what kind of approach are you looking for? 220 or 170?
Click to expand...
I think this will derail the whole thread. This thread is more about the captaincy so you give me your views about it here.
 
BouncerGuy said:
I think this will derail the whole thread. This thread is more about the captaincy so you give me your views about it here.
Click to expand...
Lol. I have a serious problem with you suggesting Rizwan without haven an idea of what kind of approach you want to take with him and what kind of team you want to take with him as captain.

It just proves that player name and played worship is a problem that we will struggle to get out of. Our problems are here to stay.
 
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