Is it the right decision to appoint Babar Azam as Test skipper?

[MenInG]

So the expected has happened - but is it the right decision?

In fact put Tests aside, should Babar be anywhere near a leadership position?

Will handling all three sides have an effect on his batting?

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Better than Azhar, but not sure if it’s a better choice than Shan or Rizwan on pure tactical merit.

Babar is the best long-term choice though, might as well groom him and give him a bit of leeway - I expect a whitewash in New Zealand which means he will come under criticism regardless of his batting or captaincy skill.

 

[Rana]

In an ideal world, here are your captains:

1. T20i: Imad Wasim

2. ODI: Imad Wasim

3. Test: Shan Masood

 

[JibranAnsari]

Misbah will be the de facto captain anyway so nothing to worry about. I dont think his batting will be affected , he doesnt change his batting for anything. Not even for winning.

 

[TrentDevil]

In an ideal world, here are your captains:

1. T20i: Imad Wasim

2. ODI: Imad Wasim

3. Test: Shan Masood

Imad Wasim )

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

I congratulated him on the other thread but I feel that this captaincy has been given to him earlier than it should have been.

Giving him the captaincy for a difficult away tour where we have had really bad results in the past few visits is almost setting him up for a failure. He's the prime batsman in the team and has been in good form, he should have been allowed to carry the responsibility. We literally spent a year on Azhar and while there was little merit in the initial decision, he should have been given a couple of series more to see if that worked. In case he didn't work out, then a general sweep of the seniors should have been done along with management to get a new start altogether. Now we have the same coach and players that have been part of this system with a new leader instilled along with the promise of performing minor miracles.

I also feel that the captain doesn't need to necessarily be the best player in the eleven but a good player and the best tactician of all available options. Most of our players never really work on cricket from other perspectives. I doubt that they even watch cricket as a hobby or have seen enough cricket to learn when they aren't playing the game.

Lastly, we needed change in the entire management team and not just the captain. We literally used a scapegoat here and it may work or not but that's not the way to do it.

Happy for Babar but also worried about overburdening our only test-quality batter right now.

 

[MMHS]

It's done, therefore no point judging it further. For sure he is the most deserving one, but not necessarily has to be the best one. As long as his own game isn't suffering, it can only get better. In Cricket, first and foremost is that the Captain must make the team automatically on pure playing merit so that he can lead from the front and draw respect from teammates.

Won't it's the perfect decision or not, but I can say that it's a logical one - no one can blame PCB if it doesn't work.

 

[Markhor]

Look to be blunt, Babar's brief captaincy stint so far hasn't been particularly impressive. The Super Over debacle showed a poor reading of the game. The brand of cricket if anything has regressed. And I fear Babar is too deferential to senior players - see his recalling of Hafeez and Malik for the Bangladesh series.

However he's the first player on the teamsheet therefore the most logical choice. He can definitely grow into the role like Williamson, but he needs a strong backroom staff not the tactically inept Misbah.

 

[Hasan123]

When is the last time we had a world class player as captain? He is well respected in the game. He can lead through performance and I'm sure he will improve tactically. I don't think he has been that bad tactically in what I have seen.

Can't understand how some fans are against a world class player being made captain because they think he may not make the right call when it comes to bowling changes LOL.

A world class player as captain. Bring it on.

 

[shamaan]

Hopefully he succeed he deserve to be captained hopefully he can be assertive in picking the players he wants and leads from the front

World class player and well respected

 

[shamaan]

In an ideal world, here are your captains:

1. T20i: Imad Wasim

2. ODI: Imad Wasim

3. Test: Shan Masood

Imad wasim isnt captincy material shadab is better showed in the national cup

 

[HappyWarsFan]

When is the last time we had a world class player as captain? He is well respected in the game. He can lead through performance and I'm sure he will improve tactically. I don't think he has been that bad tactically in what I have seen.

Can't understand how some fans are against a world class player being made captain because they think he may not make the right call when it comes to bowling changes LOL.

A world class player as captain. Bring it on.

And the same fans run through flaming hoops to cheerlead Sarfraz as captain )

 

[Hasan123]

And the same fans run through flaming hoops to cheerlead Sarfraz as captain )

Will never forget that. Can remember how some of his fans did banghra when he brought a specialist bowler on to bowl. And when you told them he doesn't make the team on merit it didn't matter apparently lol.

 

[Mamoon]

It is an excellent decision and I am glad PCB made the call at the right moment instead of delaying the inevitable. It was obvious from a very long time that he will captain Pakistan in all formats for many years.

Thankfully PCB didn’t listen to some of the fans and didn’t appoint the hardworking and dedicated failure Masood as captain.

You make that mediocrity captain and 12 months later, you find yourself in the exact same position where a non-performing player is using captaincy to keep his place in the side.

With Babar, nothing of that sort is going to happen because he will continue to be our best player.

Nevertheless, it is important for the fans to realize that we are a dreadful team and hence shouldn’t judge his captaincy with his W/L ratio.

As long as he is scoring runs and doesn’t make obvious blunders in the field, there is no need to bash him for losing matches which he obviously will more often than not.

 

[MenInG]

LAHORE: Former Pakistan Test captain Intikhab Alam says giving the captaincy of all three formats to fast-growing batsman Babar Azam is a premature decision of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), emphasising there should be different captains for red- and white-ball matches.

“Personally, I think the PCB has put extra burden on young Babar (26 years) and it is not easy for him to handle the pressure of international cricket in all three formats at this age. It would have been better had the PCB kept him [only] as white-ball captain and gave the Test captaincy to someone else,” Intikhab told Dawn on Friday.

The PCB last Tuesday removed Azhar Ali as Test captain and replaced him with the 26-year-old Babar who is already leading national ODI and Twenty20 teams. The decision has been taken at a time when seventh-ranked Pakistan later this month are embarking upon a demanding tour to New Zealand, second in ICC Test rankings, to play a series comprising two Tests and three T20 Internationals.

While New Zealand are above Pakistan in the Test rankings, in Twenty20s Pakistan are fourth and New Zealand sixth.

“Yes, Babar has been performing consistently as a batsman for the last couple of years and has cemented his place. This is a good omen for Pakistan cricket as our country badly needs batsmen of this quality. However, the pressure of captaincy [in three formats], can damage the performance of any individual and it happened in the past on a number of occasions with leading cricketers,” the 78-year-old Intikhab underlined.

Intikhab, however, backed PCB’s decision to remove Azhar from Test captaincy after a year during which Pakistan lost series in Australia (0-2 clean sweep) and England (0-1), and only managed to beat Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at home.

“I am not in favour of Azhar as skipper,” Intikhab, a veteran of 47 Tests, said.

“However, I am saying that it would have been better had the PCB appointed two captains, for white- and red-ball cricket.”

Babar was appointed limited-overs captain only last year, and he still needed more time to get mature with experience to be able to lead the Test side, Intikhab noted.

So far, Babar has led Pakistan in only three ODIs, all against a low-ranked team of Zimbabwe in a home series which the hosts won 2-1. The right-handed batsman has also captained Pakistan in 11 T20 Internationals, with six wins and three losses, while two games ended in no result.

However, Babar’s performance as batsman has remained quite satisfactory, which might have persuaded the PCB to give him the leadership in all formats.

“No doubt it will be a great challenge for Babar as the tour of New Zealand is tough and Pakistan have to win the Test series there to make their position strong in the ICC Test Championship,” Intikhab remarked.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2020

 

[MenInG]

LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain and legendary batsman Zaheer Abbas has warned the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that its decision of appointing Babar Azam as captain of the Test team along with the ODI and T20 formats may hit the prolific batsman’s own performance and it could subsequently damage the Pakistan team’s performance as well.

“After a long time Pakistan has got a batsman of Babar’s caliber and I don’t know why the PCB has put too much responsibility on him at this age as it may backfire. And if that happens, it will ultimately affect Babar’s form and the Pakistan team will suffer a lot,” Zaheer said while talking to Dawn from London on Saturday.

“Anyhow, best of luck to Pakistan team and Babar and all prayers for his success and I do hope he proves himself as a man of strong nerves and handle all the challenges ahead,” said Zaheer who also served as the president of the ICC five years ago.

Famously known as the Asian Bradman, Zaheer was all praise for Babar’s batsmanship and added that he had also proved to be a good

It may be mentioned here that Babar, with his top-class performances in all three formats, has been compared with prolific Indian captain Virat Kohli by experts around the world. But critics and former players have expressed doubts over PCB’s decision to burden the dashing player with lots of responsibilities at this early stage of his career.

“Babar is going well with the bat as his performance in all the three formats are worth mentioning and he maintains good averages in all the formats which is not an easy job,” said Zaheer, who also has fine batting averages of 44.79 in Tests and 47.62 in ODIs.

Speaking about the upcoming tour of New Zealand which will be the first Test assignment for captain Babar, Zaheer said New Zealand had become one of the world’s top teams in both Tests and ODIs and the tour would be a big challenge for Pakistan.

“Though Pakistan have a brilliant record of success against New Zealand, now the situation is different because the Black Caps are quite a strong bunch who can beat any team,” Zaheer said.

Pakistan team is leaving for New Zealand on Nov 23. “Inshallah if Pakistan win both the Test and T20 series against New Zealand, that will make Pakistan cricket’s future really bright,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2020

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

Greatest batsmen in Pakistani history who is stuck on a mediocre team.

Good luck to him but he will be ridiculed for the losses which will not be his fault.

 

[zain7077]

Greatest batsmen in Pakistani history who is stuck on a mediocre team.

Good luck to him but he will be ridiculed for the losses which will not be his fault.

Don’t worry with the induction of Abdullah Haider and hopefully Saud soon things will be upwards from here.

 

[CleverSir]

I remember when a young Shoaib Malik was appointed after the 2007 debacle and Younis Khan refused (after being groomed for it). All the oldies were against a "young" captain. The same thing is happening to Babar Azam. He's 26 and these oldies who could never establish themselves as captains (they got it too late, team culture was bad, "senior culture", or whatever the reason) are out with their knives.

The PCB needs to get these established "Pakistani legends" and get them to stand behind Baber Azam for the next few years. Give him full support (criticism of in match decisions are fine but these personal opinions of "He's this or that" are not ok). The PCB cannot let "senior culture" derail a fantastic player and his growth. They've made the decision (it was the only real one), not they need to support it.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

I remember when a young Shoaib Malik was appointed after the 2007 debacle and Younis Khan refused (after being groomed for it). All the oldies were against a "young" captain. The same thing is happening to Babar Azam. He's 26 and these oldies who could never establish themselves as captains (they got it too late, team culture was bad, "senior culture", or whatever the reason) are out with their knives.

The PCB needs to get these established "Pakistani legends" and get them to stand behind Baber Azam for the next few years. Give him full support (criticism of in match decisions are fine but these personal opinions of "He's this or that" are not ok). The PCB cannot let "senior culture" derail a fantastic player and his growth. They've made the decision (it was the only real one), not they need to support it.

Alhamdulillah Babar has one thing going for him which is he is not only the best player in the side but one of the best in the world and potentially one of Pakistan’s best ever. I am sure if Shoaib Malik was of similar class to Babar, he would have found it much easier.

 

[MenInG]

Mohammad Wasim's views on Babar in his interview with us

PakPassion.net: What do you think of Babar Azam’s appointment as Test captain?

Mohammad Wasim: There is no doubt Babar has proved himself as a batsman in all formats, but when it comes to captaincy in Tests, this will be a different challenge. We have seen some glimpses of his ability as captain in white-ball cricket, but the red-ball version will present a different set of questions for him, especially on a tough tour of New Zealand. However, I am sure the seniors like Azhar Ali will be around to help him find his feet in Tests. With Babar’s appointment, PCB’s vision of having one captain for all formats is much clear and hopefully this will bear fruit soon.


PakPassion.net: Is there a danger that the responsibility of being Test captain could become a burden on Babar’s shoulders?

Mohammad Wasim: Captaining the Test side will be tough for him, but I’m hoping that he will deliver. It will be important that he continues to perform well as a batsman as others in his team will take inspiration from his good performances and only after one or two series will we get a clearer idea of his leadership skills. He is young but very talented and we need to give him time to grow into this job. What will be interesting will be to see how quickly he learns the art of captaincy in Tests. He has had experience of leading the side in white-ball cricket, but red-ball cricket requires a different set of skills such as patience and a planning style that Babar will need to get used to. However, I am sure with the help of seniors and Misbah-ul-Haq by his side, things will work out for him on the tour of New Zealand and we will see a better and more confident version of Babar emerge.