The tradition of captaincy uncertainty before the World Cup will continue....

[Major]

The captaincy uncertainty before the ODI World Cup is not something new, in fact its now part of the Pakistan Cricket tradition as it has been happening since the 2011 World Cup, or maybe even before (Would love if someone could add on it).

Start from the 2011 World Cup, when Misbah was made the test captain for temporary terms, the board was very impressed by his captaincy along with his ODI performance that there were talks in the PCB that Misbah could be made the captain for the 2011 World Cup by replacing Shahid Afridi. Misbah was asked about it in a press conference, but he said he would not be taking the job as of yet.
Afridi was not happy with the uncertainty and had a few words with the top management about this. Eventually, when the squad was named, Afridi stayed as captain. But after the World Cup, he had a falling out and was replaced by Misbah.

Than came 2015 World Cup, Misbah had been captaining the team since 2011 and performing aswell. Suddenly, Misbah hit a dark patch where he was out of form. This had happened for the first time that Misbah hit a slump and talks of replacing him as captain had started. The candidate to replace him was no other than Shahid Afridi. Like in 2011, this time Afridi was asked if he would accept the captains job, Afridi in response said that yes he would happily take the job, but the PCB needs to announce who the captain will be immediately as there should not be too much uncertainty.
Misbah almost lost the job, but better sense prevailed and was allowed to captain the team in 2015 World Cup. He would end up being the highest scorer for Pakistan, and would eventually retire from ODI cricket playing his last game in a World Cup. A retirement he took on his own terms and was not removed.

The story repeated itself prior to the 2019 World Cup. Sarfraz had also started to lack in performance, and soon he was banned by ICC for 4 games for racial slurs that were caught on the stump mic. Shoaib Malik was made the captain for 2 odis and 2 t20s as Sarfraz served his ban. The question about who would be the captain arise once again. After a few weeks, the PCB had to confirm that Sarfraz would be captain for the World Cup 2019. As the World Cup would end and Sarfraz's lack of performance being exposed, he was removed as captain.

Now with the 2023 World Cup starting, Babar Azam stands exposed as his captaincy has not improved one bit. He has repeated the same mistakes but the poor captaincy in Asia Cup has once again started the rumors of whether its better to replace Babar Azam as captain. Eventually, he will not be replaced and will lead the side.

Thus, this has been a tradition since the 2011 World Cup, the knives are always out before the tournament, but eventually the man with the charge does end up leading the team in the tournament, hopefully Babar would be unfazed by thus.

However, if we go back in history, the captain either retires or gets replaced after the World Cup. 2003 world cup ended Waqar's career. 2007 was Inzi's last. After 2011 World Cup we saw Afridi being replaced. In 2015, Misbah retired. 2019 Sarfraz was replaced, and now by the end of 2023 only time will tell what will happen with Babar. The only way he can keep the job is if he wins the World Cup

 

[shariqnoor]

I don't believe there's any captaincy uncertainty this time. It's criticism of his captaincy which has been there forever.

However, I'm 90% sure, this World Cup will be Babar's last assignment as ODI captain.

 

[RyanRyan10]

The captaincy uncertainty before the ODI World Cup is not something new, in fact its now part of the Pakistan Cricket tradition as it has been happening since the 2011 World Cup, or maybe even before (Would love if someone could add on it).

Start from the 2011 World Cup, when Misbah was made the test captain for temporary terms, the board was very impressed by his captaincy along with his ODI performance that there were talks in the PCB that Misbah could be made the captain for the 2011 World Cup by replacing Shahid Afridi. Misbah was asked about it in a press conference, but he said he would not be taking the job as of yet.
Afridi was not happy with the uncertainty and had a few words with the top management about this. Eventually, when the squad was named, Afridi stayed as captain. But after the World Cup, he had a falling out and was replaced by Misbah.

Than came 2015 World Cup, Misbah had been captaining the team since 2011 and performing aswell. Suddenly, Misbah hit a dark patch where he was out of form. This had happened for the first time that Misbah hit a slump and talks of replacing him as captain had started. The candidate to replace him was no other than Shahid Afridi. Like in 2011, this time Afridi was asked if he would accept the captains job, Afridi in response said that yes he would happily take the job, but the PCB needs to announce who the captain will be immediately as there should not be too much uncertainty.
Misbah almost lost the job, but better sense prevailed and was allowed to captain the team in 2015 World Cup. He would end up being the highest scorer for Pakistan, and would eventually retire from ODI cricket playing his last game in a World Cup. A retirement he took on his own terms and was not removed.

The story repeated itself prior to the 2019 World Cup. Sarfraz had also started to lack in performance, and soon he was banned by ICC for 4 games for racial slurs that were caught on the stump mic. Shoaib Malik was made the captain for 2 odis and 2 t20s as Sarfraz served his ban. The question about who would be the captain arise once again. After a few weeks, the PCB had to confirm that Sarfraz would be captain for the World Cup 2019. As the World Cup would end and Sarfraz's lack of performance being exposed, he was removed as captain.

Now with the 2023 World Cup starting, Babar Azam stands exposed as his captaincy has not improved one bit. He has repeated the same mistakes but the poor captaincy in Asia Cup has once again started the rumors of whether its better to replace Babar Azam as captain. Eventually, he will not be replaced and will lead the side.

Thus, this has been a tradition since the 2011 World Cup, the knives are always out before the tournament, but eventually the man with the charge does end up leading the team in the tournament, hopefully Babar would be unfazed by thus.

However, if we go back in history, the captain either retires or gets replaced after the World Cup. 2003 world cup ended Waqar's career. 2007 was Inzi's last. After 2011 World Cup we saw Afridi being replaced. In 2015, Misbah retired. 2019 Sarfraz was replaced, and now by the end of 2023 only time will tell what will happen with Babar. The only way he can keep the job is if he wins the World Cup

This looks like an attempt to show how great Misbah was while Afridi tried to backstab him.

 

[Major]

This looks like an attempt to show how great Misbah was while Afridi tried to backstab him.

i think you need to see the thread title and not worry about the small details. I only wrote what happened. Focus is now on Babar not the past

 

[PakPremi]

Babar did offer to resign but that was not accepted, so he will continue but with more less same squas as Asia cup with Saud possibly added and Zaman Khan.Chance for Abrar too but he poses a threat to two players Babar backing Shadab and Nawaz.

 

[Rana]

Babar did offer to resign but that was not accepted, so he will continue but with more less same squas as Asia cup with Saud possibly added and Zaman Khan.Chance for Abrar too but he poses a threat to two players Babar backing Shadab and Nawaz.

When did he offer to resign?

 

[Markhor]

Captaincy intrigues have been a feature ever since Pakistan's first World Cup campaign.

Intikhab Alam was Pakistan's captain in the early 1970s. He wasn't a particularly good captain, quite defensive and was the establishment's man even then. However he beat England in the 1974 ODI series (the last time Pakistan have beaten England away in a bilateral ODI series BTW) so you'd think he'd captain at the 1975 World Cup.

Infact he didn't make the squad. I've just checked Peter Oborne's book and even he doesn't have an explanation. Asif Iqbal was appointed.

Mushtaq Mohammad faced similar treatment before the 1979 World Cup. He was an excellent captain, very underrated. He encouraged his players to sledge the opposition back unlike the genial Inti. However he was perceived to be declining as a player by the late 1970s (although his stats don't seem that bad). He accuses the senior players of betraying him so retired before the tournament, and Asif Iqbal replaced him.

In 1983, 1987 and 1992 there were no doubts who the skipper was. Although Imran was a doubt for 1983 because of his shin injury that nearly ended his career.

Moving nearer my era, the year prior the 1996 World Cup saw Salim Malik (crooked but an astute tactician) outed for matchfixing and Ramiz Raja, perceived the clean option, took over. But he lost at home to Sri Lanka in 1995 - Pakistan's first home loss in 15 years. So Wasim Akram returned as captain after a brief stint in the early 90s.

Wasim took over again in 1999 after unsuccessful stints by Rashid Latif and Amir Sohail, the fixing "whistleblowers" who again were seen as the clean candidates.

Waqar was captain for 2003. He had some early success, beating Australia in Australia, but after a disasterous Morocco tri-series it all went downhill from there. And you know what Waqar's like as a tactician and man-manager.

Don't remember any uncertainty in 2007 about Inzamam's position.

 

[Major]

Captaincy intrigues have been a feature ever since Pakistan's first World Cup campaign.

Intikhab Alam was Pakistan's captain in the early 1970s. He wasn't a particularly good captain, quite defensive and was the establishment's man even then. However he beat England in the 1974 ODI series (the last time Pakistan have beaten England away in a bilateral ODI series BTW) so you'd think he'd captain at the 1975 World Cup.

Infact he didn't make the squad. I've just checked Peter Oborne's book and even he doesn't have an explanation. Asif Iqbal was appointed.

Mushtaq Mohammad faced similar treatment before the 1979 World Cup. He was an excellent captain, very underrated. He encouraged his players to sledge the opposition back unlike the genial Inti. However he was perceived to be declining as a player by the late 1970s (although his stats don't seem that bad). He accuses the senior players of betraying him so retired before the tournament, and Asif Iqbal replaced him.

In 1983, 1987 and 1992 there were no doubts who the skipper was. Although Imran was a doubt for 1983 because of his shin injury that nearly ended his career.

Moving nearer my era, the year prior the 1996 World Cup saw Salim Malik (crooked but an astute tactician) outed for matchfixing and Ramiz Raja, perceived the clean option, took over. But he lost at home to Sri Lanka in 1995 - Pakistan's first home loss in 15 years. So Wasim Akram returned as captain after a brief stint in the early 90s.

Wasim took over again in 1999 after unsuccessful stints by Rashid Latif and Amir Sohail, the fixing "whistleblowers" who again were seen as the clean candidates.

Waqar was captain for 2003. He had some early success, beating Australia in Australia, but after a disasterous Morocco tri-series it all went downhill from there. And you know what Waqar's like as a tactician and man-manager.

Don't remember any uncertainty in 2007 about Inzamam's position.

Inzamam was confirmed captain, but Pakistan as a nation did not have faith in the Inzi team. Because by that time, the Inzi led team was doing soo bad in ICC tournaments that everyone had accepted that we would do bad. This would change when during the 2007 World T20 uptill 2011 World Cup, Pakistan started to do well in ICC tournaments

 

[emranabbas]

Amount of experience rizwan imam shadab and fakhar has they should have been gun players by now. They are all good when playing minnows but crumble under tiny weeny bit of pressure.

Babar the player is ok but his captaincy is horrendous how could you play a full game of cricket vs india with no slips

Everyone needs to go new blood needs to be injected

 

[Major]

Amount of experience rizwan imam shadab and fakhar has they should have been gun players by now. They are all good when playing minnows but crumble under tiny weeny bit of pressure.

Babar the player is ok but his captaincy is horrendous how could you play a full game of cricket vs india with no slips

Everyone needs to go new blood needs to be injected

shadab's bowling is atrocious

 

[mominsaigol]

To be fair, Sarfraz did not deserve the boot. Beating England and NZ and almost making it to semi finals if it wasn't for india losing to England which some have conspired to Dhoni slowing down on purpose to prevent pakistan coming through shouldn't have been the seed that ended his Reign.

We would have made it, if it wasn't for a freak once in a blue moon collapse against West indies. The performance in the 2019 Cup was decent.

Also misbah was not given the boot. Misbah genuinely retired and passed the torch to azhar Ali, he was always going to retire from limited overs after the world cup, that was something he had stated ever since he became captain.

Sarfraz got the boot for his 2018 track record while captaining though which I think is a little unfair because babars track record is inflated due to 2nd string bashing.

As for afridi, Afridi himself stepped down due to drama bazi, no one was cancelling him from captaincy lol.

Only one booted out was Sarfraz, as for babar we'll see but babar genuinely deserves to be booted out. Let's look at what babar has done ever since he came on the scene.

1) Brought himself to open in t20 so that he can stat pad his centuries and brought saim ayub and fakhar at 3 and 4, which is out of position and weakens out t20 team, because if babar and rizwan get out early you're left with a 11/2 score after 3 overs lol, putting extra pressure on falhar and saim.

2) Keeps playing the same winning 11, never testing youngsters which has caused our pacers to get injured multiple times either during or before big events, and just causes that winning 11 to be exposed brutally eventually.

3) Favors Shadab and nawaz, mawaz who bottled 16 runs against India, and outright is a pure hypocrite. He threw zaman Khan under the bus for not being international level, which is a harsh but fair assessment but then outright defends shadab and nawaz stating their world class bowlers and did extremely well in the cup, only didn't take wickets. Like bhai you can be wicketless fine, but then in order to do well you need to be economical. At the rate shadab is going, he'll be helping opppsitions score 400+ of ove him.

4) Keeps sticking to the same formula approach which has caused oppositions to recover from a collapsed position multiple times. Never going for the kill when needed.

 

[mominsaigol]

To be fair, Sarfraz did not deserve the boot. Beating England and NZ and almost making it to semi finals if it wasn't for india losing to England which some have conspired to Dhoni slowing down on purpose to prevent pakistan coming through shouldn't have been the seed that ended his Reign.

We would have made it, if it wasn't for a freak once in a blue moon collapse against West indies. The performance in the 2019 Cup was decent.

Also misbah was not given the boot. Misbah genuinely retired and passed the torch to azhar Ali, he was always going to retire from limited overs after the world cup, that was something he had stated ever since he became captain.

Sarfraz got the boot for his 2018 track record while captaining though which I think is a little unfair because babars track record is inflated due to 2nd string bashing.

As for afridi, Afridi himself stepped down due to drama bazi, no one was cancelling him from captaincy lol.

Only one booted out was Sarfraz, as for babar we'll see but babar genuinely deserves to be booted out. Let's look at what babar has done ever since he came on the scene.

1) Brought himself to open in t20 so that he can stat pad his centuries and brought saim ayub and fakhar at 3 and 4, which is out of position and weakens out t20 team, because if babar and rizwan get out early you're left with a 11/2 score after 3 overs lol, putting extra pressure on falhar and saim.

2) Keeps playing the same winning 11, never testing youngsters which has caused our pacers to get injured multiple times either during or before big events, and just causes that winning 11 to be exposed brutally eventually.

3) Favors Shadab and nawaz, mawaz who bottled 16 runs against India, and outright is a pure hypocrite. He threw zaman Khan under the bus for not being international level, which is a harsh but fair assessment but then outright defends shadab and nawaz stating their world class bowlers and did extremely well in the cup, only didn't take wickets. Like bhai you can be wicketless fine, but then in order to do well you need to be economical. At the rate shadab is going, he'll be helping opppsitions score 400+ of ove him.

4) Keeps sticking to the same formula approach which has caused oppositions to recover from a collapsed position multiple times. Never going for the kill when needed.

Also for those that are going to critise Sarfraz and bash him saying that we shouldn't have been reliant on India beating England in the first place,

Need I remind you we were reliant on nedtherlands beating South Africa last year? How is sarfraz's performance worse then babar bottling against India and Zimbabwe? We even struggled against nedtherlands lol,

Everyone here critising sarfraz's batting, Atleast sarfraz ducked himself lower down the order, babar and rizwan nuked us last year, their lucky haris, Chacha and the bowlers stepped in to save them over and over. And that nedtherlands did us a favor.

Babar has had one thing other captains do not have, and that's pure luck. Even then deapite all his luck, he's never won a cup showcasing how brainless he is from losing 2 finals consecutively and losing another semi final against Australia from a winning position.

 

[saqib.rai]

There is a difference.
Afridi, Misbah, Sarfaraz never won the ICC PLAYER OF THE YEAR.
NEVER WON ODI PLAYER OF THE YEAR TWICE IN A ROW.

In their time, we would only see Indians, Australians and the English sweeping all the awards.

They were cricketers who didn't have a guarantee of playing in the team BUT were made captain.

Babar is different. He will neither be replaced as a player (which is impossible) nor as captain after only one bad ICC event if Pakistan fail to qualify for semis.

 

[Markhor]

Inzamam was confirmed captain, but Pakistan as a nation did not have faith in the Inzi team. Because by that time, the Inzi led team was doing soo bad in ICC tournaments that everyone had accepted that we would do bad. This would change when during the 2007 World T20 uptill 2011 World Cup, Pakistan started to do well in ICC tournaments

I definitely didn't forsee us doing as badly as we did in 2007. Infact when the group was announced I was delighted as PAK arguably had the easiest draw of everyone - West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe.

It didn't help Akhtar and Asif withdrew from the squad. It was soon after they were busted for Nandrolone use, and the fear was it'd show up on the ICC testing. Razzaq also got injured.

But there was still enough quality in that squad to qualify from the group. The Ireland defeat even now stings.

Thing is South Africa (under Mickey Arthur) played Ireland in the warm-ups - and they too were in trouble at 66-7 on a tricky pitch. But they scratched their way to 192. Ireland couldn't chase it.

Even 170-180 would've been sufficient as evident by Ireland barely chasing 132, but our guys were too thick to understand that. And those guilty players now have the nerve to go around TV studios acting like they were god's gift to cricket.

 

[Major]

I definitely didn't forsee us doing as badly as we did in 2007. Infact when the group was announced I was delighted as PAK arguably had the easiest draw of everyone - West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe.

It didn't help Akhtar and Asif withdrew from the squad. It was soon after they were busted for Nandrolone use, and the fear was it'd show up on the ICC testing. Razzaq also got injured.

But there was still enough quality in that squad to qualify from the group. The Ireland defeat even now stings.

Thing is South Africa (under Mickey Arthur) played Ireland in the warm-ups - and they too were in trouble at 66-7 on a tricky pitch. But they scratched their way to 192. Ireland couldn't chase it.

Even 170-180 would've been sufficient as evident by Ireland barely chasing 132, but our guys were too thick to understand that. And those guilty players now have the nerve to go around TV studios acting like they were god's gift to cricket.

this is why i hate inzi. Never stood up in icc tournaments. People wanted him to retire before but he kept on playing for pakistna..

I dont remember if he played in the champions trophy in india where pakistan also performed bad

 

[Major]

There is a difference.
Afridi, Misbah, Sarfaraz never won the ICC PLAYER OF THE YEAR.
NEVER WON ODI PLAYER OF THE YEAR TWICE IN A ROW.

In their time, we would only see Indians, Australians and the English sweeping all the awards.

They were cricketers who didn't have a guarantee of playing in the team BUT were made captain.

Babar is different. He will neither be replaced as a player (which is impossible) nor as captain after only one bad ICC event if Pakistan fail to qualify for semis.

captaincy has nothing to do with player of the year as player of the year award is based on batting or bowling performance of one individual

 

[topspin]

This looks like an attempt to show how great Misbah was while Afridi tried to backstab him.

Exactly that. This is what Major does whenever he opens up a thread. Pretends to take an interest and discuss wider issues in Pakistan cricket but it ends up being a defensive/Misbah glorfying post. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees that.

Misbah's captaincy was there for everyone to see during the 2013 CT and 2015 World Cup tournaments.

 

[Markhor]

this is why i hate inzi. Never stood up in icc tournaments. People wanted him to retire before but he kept on playing for pakistna..

I dont remember if he played in the champions trophy in india where pakistan also performed bad

No he didn't, he was serving his ban for Ovalgate so Younis Khan took over (after some drama).

PAK got knocked out on another greentop, this time in Mohali to SAF.

 

[BouncerGuy]

There should not be any uncertainty about the captain as we all know, Babar is our captain and he might not be changed anytime soon. Have some faith in this team.

 

[TheSultan]

There is a difference.
Afridi, Misbah, Sarfaraz never won the ICC PLAYER OF THE YEAR.
NEVER WON ODI PLAYER OF THE YEAR TWICE IN A ROW.

In their time, we would only see Indians, Australians and the English sweeping all the awards.

They were cricketers who didn't have a guarantee of playing in the team BUT were made captain.

Babar is different. He will neither be replaced as a player (which is impossible) nor as captain after only one bad ICC event if Pakistan fail to qualify for semis.

What has that got to do with captaincy? If it makes a difference then what a sad state of affairs.

So the formula for success for any budding captain would be to find a way to keep stat padding against minnows and play every single game against second string sides and you’re good.

 

[topspin]

Last year's Asia Cup Final should've been Babar's last game as captain in white ball cricket for Pakistan.

 

[Rana]

Last year's Asia Cup Final should've been Babar's last game as captain in white ball cricket for Pakistan.

But we love to stay in power regardless of whether we are worthy of it.

Story of our nation

 

[BouncerGuy]

Last year's Asia Cup Final should've been Babar's last game as captain in white ball cricket for Pakistan.

I am not a big fan of the best batter to be the captain as well. But Kohli is a prime example of this stuff. Baber doesn't have the same caliber Kohli has so it puts extra pressure on Babar. i really hope that he does well in the upcoming world cup. IF not then we have to look for other options and let him off with this captaincy burden so he can do well as a top batsman.

 

[owenhcricket]

Babar has captained Pakistan to the no.1 spot in the ODI rankings and shown good outings for Pakistan in the T20 world cups we have had recently. Unless Pakistan are abysmal in the upcoming tournament, he is fine...but that doesn't mean he should not improve his on field tactics and man management. There is always room for improvement.

 

[RyanRyan10]

Exactly that. This is what Major does whenever he opens up a thread. Pretends to take an interest and discuss wider issues in Pakistan cricket but it ends up being a defensive/Misbah glorfying post. I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees that.

Misbah's captaincy was there for everyone to see during the 2013 CT and 2015 World Cup tournaments.

Misbah could manage just 1 win in 7 matches against the top 8 sides in those 2 tournaments.

His W/L ratio had a steep decline when the 2 chuckers were banned. Pakistan under Misbah was an extremely boring side to watch. The 2013 CT batting line up he had assembled was at the level of the associates.

 

[hassan918]

Babar's captaincy is certainly raising some questions after a disappointing Asia Cup but he is going to be the captain till the end of the World Cup. We may Shadab Khan replaced as he Vice Captain. The most likely replacement would be Shaheen Shah Afridi who will probably be the next captain of Pakistan national team.

 

[topspin]

Misbah could manage just 1 win in 7 matches against the top 8 sides in those 2 tournaments.

His W/L ratio had a steep decline when the 2 chuckers were banned. Pakistan under Misbah was an extremely boring side to watch. The 2013 CT batting line up he had assembled was at the level of the associates.

How could one forget each of these two dreaded tournaments. Pakistan lost every single game in the 2013 CT. In the 2015 WC, almost lost to Zimbabwe and got destroyed by the West Indies. The only win of note was the one against South Africa but we all know they're the biggest bottle jobs in international cricket tournament history.

Misbah got ruthlessly exposed when he lost the bowling services of Ajmal and Hafeez due to their persistent chucking.

Going back to the 2013 CT, the selections of Imran Farhat and Umar Amin tells you exactly why Pakistan had the worst ever showing in a white ball tournament. What we witnessed around this time, ten years ago, was a nightmare to say the least.

 

[topspin]

this is why i hate inzi. Never stood up in icc tournaments. People wanted him to retire before but he kept on playing for pakistna..

I dont remember if he played in the champions trophy in india where pakistan also performed bad

Inzy may not have the best record in ICC tournaments but to claim that he never stood up in ICC tournaments is a lie. You may as well say "1992 World Cup was fixed".

 

[TheSultan]

Captaincy uncertainty but the constant is we never actually change the captain.

2015 keeping Misbah was like tournament suicide. Same now with Babar.

 

[Rana]

What do you expect from someone who said they would pick Rizwan over Inzimam in ICC tournaments?

 

[hassan918]

Captaincy uncertainty but the constant is we never actually change the captain.

2015 keeping Misbah was like tournament suicide. Same now with Babar.

If you want to change the captain, change it before a few months and let the new captain play at least a couple of smaller tournaments/series. It is not wise to change the captain going into the World Cup.

 

[mominsaigol]

Captaincy uncertainty but the constant is we never actually change the captain.

2015 keeping Misbah was like tournament suicide. Same now with Babar.

Captaincy imo does matter alot, captaincy uncertainty is defo suicide.

Sarfraz wasn't a one and done fluke type thing. Sarfi won psl and under 19 2006 World cup. He was clearly a tournament player especially when we beat NZ and England in 2019 during the cup under his Reign.

Babar never won anything, not even psl so just based of that statistic it's 100x more worrying.

Also pretty sure we changed Captain just before CT 2017, azhar stepped down for sarfi. Babar won't step down ever though XD. If he does rizzu gets his dream ig.

 

[TheSultan]

Captaincy imo does matter alot, captaincy uncertainty is defo suicide.

Sarfraz wasn't a one and done fluke type thing. Sarfi won psl and under 19 2006 World cup. He was clearly a tournament player especially when we beat NZ and England in 2019 during the cup under his Reign.

Babar never won anything, not even psl so just based of that statistic it's 100x more worrying.

Also pretty sure we changed Captain just before CT 2017, azhar stepped down for sarfi. Babar won't step down ever though XD. If he does rizzu gets his dream ig.

I will never understand why people are trying to force a good captain out of Babar. Some people clearly don’t have it in that department. He’s not a natural.

Just let him develop his batting, something he CAN excel at.

The problem with Babar is that he doesn’t recognise this. He enjoys the power, but could care less about the responsibility. When you are captain of your country, it is your job to improve your cricketing acumen, it is your responsibility to keep up with modern demands and strategies.

He will eventually get sacked, but how much damage will he do in the mean time.

 

[mominsaigol]

I will never understand why people are trying to force a good captain out of Babar. Some people clearly don’t have it in that department. He’s not a natural.

Just let him develop his batting, something he CAN excel at.

The problem with Babar is that he doesn’t recognise this. He enjoys the power, but could care less about the responsibility. When you are captain of your country, it is your job to improve your cricketing acumen, it is your responsibility to keep up with modern demands and strategies.

He will eventually get sacked, but how much damage will he do in the mean time.

Imo I feel like babar regressed as a player when he took on captaincy. He hasn't regressed the correct word is stagnated.

When he debuted he basically couldn't take singles, hit sixes or do anything besides cover drive lol, he got lucky he played zim and WI. He would have gotten exposed otherwise. But since then he's a natural at taking singles and can hit a 6 here and their, his skills with pace are unmatched he still struggles with back foot against spin.

Problem is the struggles against spin is such a glaring issue, the old babar improved game by game and you could clearly see that, he stagnated when he became captain though. Each game is the same problems. He should just keep focusing on batting.

 

[heddie19]

Imo I feel like babar regressed as a player when he took on captaincy. He hasn't regressed the correct word is stagnated.

When he debuted he basically couldn't take singles, hit sixes or do anything besides cover drive lol, he got lucky he played zim and WI. He would have gotten exposed otherwise. But since then he's a natural at taking singles and can hit a 6 here and their, his skills with pace are unmatched he still struggles with back foot against spin.

Problem is the struggles against spin is such a glaring issue, the old babar improved game by game and you could clearly see that, he stagnated when he became captain though. Each game is the same problems. He should just keep focusing on batting.

Ever heard about ceiling? Babar's performances improved massively since he became the captain accross formats. Something that is very rare with Pakistani skippers.

 

[mominsaigol]

Ever heard about ceiling? Babar's performances improved massively since he became the captain accross formats. Something that is very rare with Pakistani skippers.

What ceiling? He is a virtual tail ender against quality spin, if kuldeep bowls then bye bye babar.

He needs to improve the backfoot to play spin. Theirs a reason hasanranga kept getting him out. That front foot block is never gonna work.

 

[Markhor]

Captaincy imo does matter alot, captaincy uncertainty is defo suicide.

Sarfraz wasn't a one and done fluke type thing. Sarfi won psl and under 19 2006 World cup. He was clearly a tournament player especially when we beat NZ and England in 2019 during the cup under his Reign.

Babar never won anything, not even psl so just based of that statistic it's 100x more worrying.

Also pretty sure we changed Captain just before CT 2017, azhar stepped down for sarfi. Babar won't step down ever though XD. If he does rizzu gets his dream ig.

This x100. There should be two pre-requisites before appointing a captain:

1) The player merits a place in the team.
2) The player has a proven track record as a captain.

Cricket boards, not just PCB, keep making the mistake of looking at 1) and not 2). It's amazing how the game has professionalised so much with the advent of analytics, biomechanics etc yet the appointment of captains remain stuck in the Amateur Era.

Babar hasn't won a thing as an U19, domestic or PSL captain. Struggles internationally.

Root barely captained for Yorkshire before getting the England job, and when he did was nicknamed "Craptain" by his teammates. In a 2014 County match between Yorkshire and Middlesex, Root couldn't defend 472 in the 4th innings ! Yet he got the job three years later and his tenure ended after a run of 1 win in 17 Tests. Pooran was given the WI white-ball captaincy after Pollard retired despite no experience. He was awful and couldn't get out of the qualifiers at the T20 World Cup, and resigned.

Now look at the captains who have been successful.

Sarfraz, for all his flaws, had success captaining Pakistan U19s, Pakistan A, domestically and for PSL. Now his W/L records were poor overall but had enough tactical acumen to oversee the CT17 win.

Misbah, for all his flaws, was a successful Pakistan A, domestic and PSL captain. He had his successes as Pakistan captain.

The point is international cricket ain't the place for on-the-job captaincy training ! Identify cricketers with leadership potential at junior level, give them responsibility, let them captain domestically, and only appoint them if they've delivered results.

 

[shariqnoor]

This is what will happen post World Cup in most likelihood

Babar Azam - stripped of the captaincy
Agha Salman - White ball career over
Nawaz - Career over
Iftikhar - Career over
Hasan Ali - Career over
Usama Mir - Career over

Biggest beneficiary of this World Cup - Naseem Shah.