Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
Babar Azam takes over Test captaincy for Pakistan | Babar Azam replaces Azhar Ali to become Pakistan’s new Test captain
Babar Azam has been appointed as the new captain of Pakistan in Test cricket. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani confirmed this to the media on November 10.
Babar will take over the responsibility in the upcoming ICC World Test Championship games against New Zealand, which will be played in Mount Maunganui and Christchurch from December 26-30 and January 3-7 respectively.
Azhar Ali was the captain of only the Test team and Azam was managing the limited over format until now. The 26-year-old cricketer has helped the team win five of the seven T20Is under his captaincy. “Babar Azam was identified at a very young age as a future leader and as part of his progression and development, he was appointed white-ball captain last year,” Mani said. “With his consistent performance and leadership skills, he has demonstrated that he is ready to take on the additional responsibilities of a captain.
Things started to boil up, after Pakistan had a terrible Australia tour under Ali’s captaincy where even he struggled for his form, which was later on followed by tours by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. “As we are looking into the future, it is appropriate that we appoint him the captain now so that he continues to grow stronger with every match. I wish Babar all the best and remain optimistic that he will help Pakistan cricket make an upward movement across all formats not only through his performance but also with his positive attitude and result-oriented approach”, Mani said.
According to Cricbuzz reports, Babar said he was honoured to be appointed as the new captain for Test. “I am ready and prepared to take up the additional responsibility and the fact which gives me additional confidence is that I can do the job is the experience that is available to me in the changing room in the shape of the players and support staff. I want to thank Azhar Ali for the way he captained the team in the last season, which was a difficult one, but I know that he will leave no stone unturned in giving his very best to the team”, the captain said.
Written by Anjali Jha. Follow Anjali on Twitter today.
