Following the disappointing performance of the Pakistan team in the World Cup 2023 in India, Babar Azam on Wednesday announced his resignation as the Pakistan captain in all three formats on social media.
Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup 2023 – this is the third time in a row that Pakistan didn’t reach the ODI World Cup semis- and finished with only 4 wins and 5 losses.
Babar Azam posted a statement on social media.
Babar Azam said: “Today, I am stepping down as the captain of Pakistan in all formats. It’s a difficult decision but I feel it is a right time for this call. I will continue to represent Pakistan as a player in all three formats. I am here to support the new captain and the team with my experience and dedication. I want to express my sincere thanks to the Pakistan Cricket Board for entrusting me with this significant responsibility.”
Shaheen Afridi set to replace Babar Azam as Pakistan’s T20I skipper; Shan Masood the new Test captain
Under Babar Azam, Pakistan became the number 1 team in ODIs, but lost it to India a couple of months ago. Pakistan suffered home Test series defeats to England and Australia last year. They reached the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2021 and the final of the T20 World Cup 2022, but lost in the knockouts. Pakistan also lost last year’s Asia Cup final to Sri Lanka.
However, the underperformance of the side coupled with his underperformance with the bat in the Asia Cup 2023 and the World Cup 2023 forced his exit. In the World Cup, Babar managed only 320 runs at an average of 40 and strike rate of 82 without a single hundred.
It has been learned that the PCB had asked him to step down only as the white-ball captain and lead Pakistan in the Test series in Australia later in the year. However, Babar Azam has voluntarily decided to step down as the Test skipper as well.
The PCB is set to appoint left-handed batsman Shan Masood as their new Test skipper and fast bowler Shaheen Afridi as the new T20I skipper. Pakistan don’t play any ODI match for over the next 12 months, so that decision will be made later.
This led to funny memes on Twitter on Babar Azam:
