The Pakistan Cricket Board’s ‘unanimous’ decision to reinstate Babar Azam’s captaincy across all formats has left cricket fans divided, with some calling it ‘Amreci sazish’. The country is witnessing a Babar vs Shaheen supremacy battle. And social media has become their playground. Both #BabarAzamIsMyCaptain and #JusticeForShaheen are trending on X.
The sports fraternity and fans are both ecstatic about their Kaptan’s return and angry about the treatment given to Shaheen Afridi.
The board reappointed Azam to lead the team two months before the T20 World Cup that commences on 2 June. It was under Azam’s captaincy in 2022 that Pakistan reached the T20 World Cup final. He was asked to step down as the skipper across all formats last year following Pakistan’s debacle at the One Day International (ODI) World Cup held in India.
‘Captaincy needs Babar Azam’
Pakistan had not appointed a new ODI captain since Azam’s exit as the skipper.
Shaheen Afridi has been dropped after leading the T20 team in just one series. In Afridi’s first series as captain in New Zealand last year, Pakistan was defeated 4-1.
“Babar Azam doesn’t need captaincy. Captaincy needs him,” an X user tweeted while another morphed Shaheen Afridi’s picture onto Imran Khan’s face, calling the PCB’s decision an ‘Amreci sazish’.
Abdul Ghaffar, the sports editor of Dawn, applauded the move and said that it was the right one.
“Any fast bowler who is also playing league cricket cannot be given captaincy due to the workload. This is the correct decision,” he said in a video shared on X.
Meanwhile, the Afridi clan is on a clarification spree.
Shaheen’s father-in-law, the former cricketer Shahid Afridi, criticised the PCB decision saying that he supports Azam and the team.
According to PCB, Shaheen said: “It was an absolute honour to captain the Pakistan National Cricket Team. I will always cherish the memories and the opportunity. As a team player, it is my duty to back our captain, Babar Azam. I have played under his captaincy and have nothing but respect for him. I will try to help him on and off the field. We are all one. Our aim is the same, to help Pakistan become the best team in the world.”
However, according to media outlets like AFP, Shaheen never made such a statement.
“This is not Shaheen’s statement and he has contacted PCB to clarify this”, a source was quoted as saying in the AFP report.
The Pakistan Cricket Board dubbed Shaheen’s removal as skipper a “strategic move” intended to manage their best fast bowler’s workload.
A shift in the PCB structure led to a leadership transition, with Babar Azam taking over as team captain from recently appointed board chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
Weighing in on the Babar vs Afridi debate, cricket commentator Mazher Arshad has an unlikely contender for captaincy–one that no one cared for.
“While the pendulum has swung between Shaheen and Babar Azam, Pakistan has completely forgotten who their T20 vice-captain was in recent years. It’s surprising that Shadab Khan was not considered for the role especially when Pakistan are looking to have a different batting order and change their style of play.”
Shadab, along with Shan Masood, is arguably the only captain in Pakistan who is open to a modern-day, aggressive and data-driven approach, Arshad tweeted.