The guidance of Babar Azam was instrumental in preserving Shadab Khan’s vice-captaincy.
The vice-captaincy was spared, and the selectors have come to terms with the fact that they will not be giving anyone break before the World Cup.
By a hair’s breadth, Shadab Khan held onto his vice-captaincy, as the selectors took Babar Azam’s recommendation and did not rest him before the World Cup.
Despite being selected for the T20I squad and the ODI team against the Kiwis, Imad Wasim was passed over by the skipper.
Babar will serve as captain when Pakistan releases its ODI and T20I teams for the New Zealand series.
Shadab was supposed to be rested throughout the home series against New Zealand, according to sources from PCB.
For the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, he served as interim captain. Sadly, the Men in Green dropped the series with a score of 2-1.
The stand-in skipper emphasized the crucial roles of Babar and Mohammad Rizwan at a post-match news conference after Pakistan lost the second T20I against Afghanistan in the aforementioned series, saying, “now people will know the value of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.”
The announcement angered the higher authorities since it led to a social media frenzy about Shadab’s rest and removal from his vice-captaincy.
Former Test players criticized the choice, and the PCB Management Committee chairman was the target of the trending Twitter hashtag #DestroyerNajamSethi. But, the authorities ultimately changed their mind as a result of Babar’s support for Shadab.
According to sources, the skipper allegedly pleaded with the board to forgo further experimenting until the future ICC World Cup 2023, which is set to take place in India.
Players cannot get rest owing to the present schedule, therefore Shadab’s good performance led to the decision to keep him as vice-captain.
There appear to be strained relationships between former Karachi Kings teammates as Imad voiced displeasure at Babar’s purported demand to be named captain of the PSL club and the consequent lack of confidence displayed towards him in that capacity.
Yet, Imad has taken back control of Karachi Kings after Babar joined Peshawar Zalmi, and his outstanding performance in Sharjah makes it challenging for the club management to omit him from the starting eleven.
