Removal from captaincy was a blessing in disguise for whom? Shaheen Afridi or Babar Azam

[The Bald Eagle]

Shaheen was unfairly removed from captaincy just after a single series assignment and that too away from home. But surprisingly his form has improved greatly since then

Since his removal he has accomplished a number of feats.

1. Emerged as the player of the series against NZ (at home)

2. On cusp of winning ICC Player of the month
(April 2024)

3. The most economical bowler in the ongoing series against Ireland (with bowling economy of 6.5 rpo) and also with a batting SR of 175.

4. He has got his pace back, bowling regularly at 140 Km/H although in Australia in hardly touched 135 Km/H

For comparison during his short stint as Pakistan team's captain he was bowling with a high economy rate of above 9.0 rpo, failed to do well with the LQs and was taunted as a trundler with below 140 Km/H pace

On the other hand

Babar get laundered of his poor performances in CWC 2023 and without any effort and improvement get a guaranteed captaincy until 2025.

So in your opinion who benefitted most from the removal from captaincy

 

[RyanRyan10]

Yes. He has got his mojo back. Easily the best new ball bowler in the world for the T20s and the biggest match winner for Pakistan.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Poll added Guys!

 

[Rana]

I would hope it ends Babar’s captaincy once and for all.


But I know I am hoping for the impossible

 

[mominsaigol]

People need to understand Pakistan were never going to win NZ and Australia straight after the humiliating wc 2023.

It was impossible. Whole team was down on confidence?

 

[emranabbas]

I missed shaheens captaincy was anything different or bog standard babar type of captaincy

 

[RidiculousMan]

In hindsight it seem so or it may look otherwise in the coming times. But the truth is that we won't know.

 

[emranabbas]

In terms of the thread title it was definitely a blessing, if shaheen had lost the series vs NZ and Ireland people would be asking for Babar to come back. Atleast babars captaincy has been exposed and puts that debate to bed

 

[Slim]

I missed shaheens captaincy was anything different or bog standard babar type of captaincy

Under Shaheen’s small stint:

1) He managed to force Babar to bat at number 3

2) Tried squad combos and rotation against an almost full squad NZ

3) Brought Imad and Amir back into the team

He already achieved a lot. People including many people here were extremely impatient with him, they were the same people who doubted his LQ captaincy. He will prove them wrong back then and he will prove them wrong in future.

Babar did a big blunder by being greedy, Pakistani fans gave him a cushion for four years, that cushion is gone now. He thinks he can stay captain till 2025, i say i am not even sure if he can stay captain till end of english tour.

Times have changed, people have opened their eyes. People are sick of seeing his unimaginative captaincy at play. If Shaheen was captain till 2024 wt20 and failed, people would have welcomed Babar’s captaincy more but greed got the better end of Babar. Now he should enjoy!

 

[mominsaigol]

Under Shaheen’s small stint:

1) He managed to force Babar to bat at number 3

2) Tried squad combos and rotation against an almost full squad NZ

3) Brought Imad and Amir back into the team

He already achieved a lot. People including many people here were extremely impatient with him, they were the same people who doubted his LQ captaincy. He will prove them wrong back then and he will prove them wrong in future.

Babar did a big blunder by being greedy, Pakistani fans gave him a cushion for four years, that cushion is gone now. He thinks he can stay captain till 2025, i say i am not even sure if he can stay captain till end of english tour.

Times have changed, people have opened their eyes. People are sick of seeing his unimaginative captaincy at play. If Shaheen was captain till 2024 wt20 and failed, people would have welcomed Babar’s captaincy more but greed got the better end of Babar. Now he should enjoy!

Reason why babar wants captaincy I'd for himself to secure league contracts, and his own future post retirement in the same vein as hafeez, misbah were able to.

Thats all, he doesn't care about the team. The interviews prove it. Aka we lost to Ireland because they attacked us.

Yes babar, Ireland shpuld have given you a hug like rizwan instead.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

I would hope it ends Babar’s captaincy once and for all.


But I know I am hoping for the impossible

Nope bad results would change things, Even Mohsin Naqvi & Co would be shown the door soon.

 

[Slim]

Reason why babar wants captaincy I'd for himself to secure league contracts, and his own future post retirement in the same vein as hafeez, misbah were able to.

Thats all, he doesn't care about the team. The interviews prove it. Aka we lost to Ireland because they attacked us.

Yes babar, Ireland shpuld have given you a hug like rizwan instead.

Yeah, i agree i made this post a while ago which shared similar thoughts back in March 21, 2024 in the Hundred thread:

The reality is for us and all the world to see. Babar and Rizwan are average t20 batsmen who want to occupy opener positions while playing at a strike rate of 130ish. Thats pathetic and not up to the standards for modern day t20I cricket, and openers especially.

Only problem is some pakistani fans and these players fan clubs are in denial and bring up their performances from low intensity / minnow bashing games.

The reality is Babar and Rizwan have failed in all finals Pakistan has played so far. Their innings in those matches have been earmarked with low strike rate, eating up balls and then trying to put the blame on bowlers and fielders.

The fact that both captain PSL sides, they have not let openers develop in PSL. Players like Usman Khan, Haris play lower in the order to accommodate them. What happens then is that we are left with no options as no one else gets the chance.

Hafeez and Wahab tried the bold step but lost heart midway due to intense pressure and propaganda. Rizwan’s infamous post match comments and Babar’s reported reluctance to play down the order for Pakistan is for all to see.

Its been 4 years but they both refuse to leave the opening spot. They know t20 cricket is where you make the money and they can only score their runs at the opening spot as they will get maximum balls and then get selected for big money domestic tournies.

At the end of the day, its all about money, more money and money alone.

All about the $$$$

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Well SSA in his maiden stint did a lot of experiments and consequently paid the price for it. But even there he did a favor to Babar by allowing him to bat at 3 but in comparison Babar wasted the entire NZ series with no big experiments except promoting himself as opener.

 

[Ahmed216]

He targets the stump with the new ball. It's important for bowler like Shaheen to bowl with pace and he seems to be getting that back.
Not sure if that has got something to do with getting removed as a captain

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Well Babar may be happy with unhindered captaincy until 2025 but on the flipside he is getting all the hate for the flop performances of other players.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Well Babar may be happy with unhindered captaincy until 2025 but on the flipside he is getting all the hate for the flop performances of other players.

Don’t think Babar cares tbh, he knows that as long as he continues scoring runs no one will question him or hold him responsible for the team’s performance.

 

[emranabbas]

Don’t think Babar cares tbh, he knows that as long as he continues scoring runs no one will question him or hold him responsible for the team’s performance.

that's what he thinks, fans can't tolerate it anymore, some of his hardcore fans have turned against him on FB YT Tiktok etc..

 

[Slim]

Don’t think Babar cares tbh, he knows that as long as he continues scoring runs no one will question him or hold him responsible for the team’s performance.

The lack of noise after the zimbabwe and afghan defeat showed him that there is no accountability.

 

[Savak]

This will end up as the biggest mistake of Babar's career

 

[Savak]

Yes. He has got his mojo back. Easily the best new ball bowler in the world for the T20s and the biggest match winner for Pakistan.

Rohit and Kohli will expose this myth of best new ball bowling. Shaheen's predictable in swinging yorkers will be harmlessly negotiated.

 

[Savak]

Mohsin Naqvi is a no nonsense guy. His management style is to offer full fledged support, rewards to people but if they let him down badly and don't deliver, he will not hesitate to bring down the hammer.

If Babar thinks Naqvi will put up with his incompetency indefinitely, he's got another thing coming.

 

[Technics 1210]

I think Babar has lost the command/respect in the dressing room - captain wise.

His return as Captain hasn't exactly been a warm welcome.

 

[Savak]

I think Babar has lost the command/respect in the dressing room - captain wise.

His return as Captain hasn't exactly been a warm welcome.

Even a kid would have forseen the manner in which he snatched the captaincy from Shaheen was going to have disastrous consequences in the team.

 

[cricketmania22]

Even a kid would have forseen the manner in which he snatched the captaincy from Shaheen was going to have disastrous consequences in the team.

Shaheen didn’t do himself any favors either by opting out of the thirst test so he would remain fit to play the T20 series.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Change in captaincy proved to be a blessing for both of them. Shaheen's extra burden is removed and he can easily manage his workload and focus on his prime job which is to bowl well. On the other hand, babar has got his captaincy back so he is happy as well but I think this decision is going to haunt him and it is haunting him right now because of the worst performance of the team, whatever the reasons are for that performances.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

The lack of noise after the zimbabwe and afghan defeat showed him that there is no accountability.

Nope things are different now, back then it was dosti yaari gang at his back. With Shaheen running #sochna_bi_mat campaign and now he will run #isse_hatta_bhi_do campaign.

Rohit and Kohli will expose this myth of best new ball bowling. Shaheen's predictable in swinging yorkers will be harmlessly negotiated.

They won't in my opinion. The only threat is Jaiswal

 

[Rana]

Change in captaincy proved to be a blessing for both of them. Shaheen's extra burden is removed and he can easily manage his workload and focus on his prime job which is to bowl well. On the other hand, babar has got his captaincy back so he is happy as well but I think this decision is going to haunt him and it is haunting him right now because of the worst performance of the team, whatever the reasons are for that performances.

Shaheen hasn’t missed many games since being removed

Not sure how his workload is being managed?

He has to play today again

 

[BouncerGuy]

Shaheen hasn’t missed many games since being removed

Not sure how his workload is being managed?

He has to play today again

Well that is the management's decision to take. They should rest him for Amir instead of dropping abbas.

 

[Master Blaster]

It is hard to believe that brother Bobby was removed from captaincy of white ball. It looks more like he demanded he be given a break from the tough test of leadership down under.

Test leadership he has successfully surpassed the achievements of his mentor.
But in white ball cricket, he as a leader has a lot to achieve. Hence after a small rest he was rightfully brought back for the easy-peasy home series against NZ D and now the lemon squeezy series against the Irish.

This break/reappointment in leadership has been a blessing for both players.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Even after an excellent month of April SSA failed to win the player of the month award
======

UAE captain and opener Muhammad Waseem is named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month thanks to his notable run-scoring feats as the UAE triumphed in the ACC Premier Cup.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

no one can really lead this heart attack team.

 

[mominsaigol]

Shaheen takes wickets, flunks in terms of economy, just like all our bowlers besides abrar, he's a liability while defending.

If babar has any sense of intelligence and wants to win batting first today, then imad and abrar must be fromtline on these pitches. 8 overs of spin needed from these 2 minimum

 

[The Bald Eagle]

SSA with the bat averaging around 20 with Sr of 152 in T20, this year.

Everyone knows Imad is already a proven performer but nothing wrong in promoting him up the order then because of his firepower with the bat.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Pakistan's left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has affirmed that his primary focus is representing his country, and he has no aspirations for captaincy, he said:

“For me, Pakistan comes first. Then the team, and then me. I don’t live in the past, I stay in the present,"

“I don’t think about the future because if your present is fine, then the future takes care of itself. Whether captaincy is given to me or taken away, these things are not in my control and I don’t play my cricket for these things.”

"I play cricket to serve Pakistan, and I’ll play it with respect and will win more games for Pakistan,”

“I don’t look at the negative reports [written about me]. Because if I look at them, then how will I perform for Pakistan?”

“My intention has always been to fight for the side, and I’ll keep fighting. I don’t look at negative things. For as long as I play, I’ll do it with pride for Pakistan.”