Babar Azam is reappointed as Pakistan's Test captain | PC- AFP
As Pakistan are going through a tough phase, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has re-appointed Babar Azam as the Test captain after Shan Masood’s removal, who lost 12 losses in his 16 matches in charge.
Although the decision taken by Babar to take back the captaincy is getting criticised heavily, it is looked at as Pakistan Cricket's best chance for revival.
Recently, the Men in Green were whitewashed in Bangladesh, where Shan Masood and red-ball coach Sarfaraz Khan looked clueless with their planning and team selection.
However, as the PCB announced the teams for the Test series against the West Indies and England, many changes have been made, with Babar's re-appointment as the headline.
Pakistan's top man backs Babar Azam as Test captain
Pakistan's director of high performance, Aaqib Javed, has defended the PCB's decision to reappoint Babar Azam as Test captain.
He indirectly blamed Shan Masood for the team's downfall after they failed to pick wickets of the opposition's lower order in recent years.
"We have brought Babar Azam back because the same problems kept recurring. Whether it was in Australia, South Africa, the West Indies or, most recently, Bangladesh, the opposition's tail-enders continued to frustrate us. The conditions and bowlers changed, but the outcome remained the same and that pointed towards issues in leadership and game management," Aaqib Javed said as quoted by geosuper.tv.
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Furthermore, the director of high performance called Babar "mature enough" to lead Pakistan again, and stated that he will get a two to three-year run to prove himself.
"I believe Babar is mature enough to lead the team again. He is one of our key players and our plan is to give him a two to three-year run as captain. Every captain brings a fresh mindset and we expect him to inspire the team through his own performances," Miandad stated.
Musical chair of captaincy ft. Babar Azam
During his purple patch as a batter, Babar Azam was appointed as Pakistan's full-time captain across all formats as soon as the team failed to reach the semi-finals in the 2019 World Cup.
Under his regime, the Men in Green did exceptionally well in the shortest formats, making the semis in the 2020 T20 World Cup and then getting one step closer to the title in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
But then Babar’s downfall both as a batter and a captain collided, leading to his removal as captain after a poor run in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. Although he was brought on a short-term basis for the next year’s ICC event, Babar not only lost his job as captain but was also dropped from the team, across formats.
However, he again looked at the answer to all the problems that Pakistan Cricket is facing.
Pakistan need the Babar factor!
As a batter, Babar Azam is still the best batter going around in Pakistan, with nearly 16,000 runs under his belt. He proved his mettle recently in the PSL 2026, where he delivered both as a batter and captain in Peshawar Zalmi's triumph.
However, he needs to bring his magic as an international batter for Pakistan's revival.
Having said that, Babar has zilch Test centuries in the last four years, and just one at international cricket since 2024.
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