Former Pakistan cricketer and captain Rashid Latif has requested the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to keep Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam away from the English media on their upcoming tour of England. The three-Test series will begin with the series opener at Headingley in Leeds from August 19 to 23.
Babar Azam has returned as Pakistan Test captain and managed to tie the two-Test series against West Indies 1-1.
Rashid Latif has asked PCB to keep Babar Azam away from English media and instead send Shan Masood to interact with them.
“An England tour is a difficult assignment, and the English media often tries to unnecessarily involve visiting teams in news stories. Babar Azam is an experienced player, so it would be better for the PCB management to keep him away from the English media and send former captain Shan Masood to speak to them more often. Shan has played in England and has better experience of dealing with the English media,” Rashid said on Geo News' Score.
Meanwhile, as the Pakistan national teams undergo a captaincy overhaul due to poor results, Shaheen Shah Afridi has stated that "till now I am Pakistan's captain for One-Day Internationals," as reports circulate that Babar Azam is likely to take over as all-format captain, according to a news report on Monday.
According to Telecom Asia Sport, the Pakistan Cricket Board has promised former skipper Babar the captaincy across all formats. After entrusting him with the Test squad, the PCB is now considering giving him the ODI squad as well.
It was claimed a few days ago that Babar had accepted the Test captaincy on the proviso that he would eventually be named all-format captain. According to sources, two selectors informed Babar that if he performed well in the two Tests in the West Indies and three in England, he would be named the all-format captain.
Shaheen Afridi replaced Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistan ODI captain last October, but his tenure was not fixed. Under Rizwan, Pakistan had been eliminated from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in the first round and then lost a series to the West Indies for the first time in 24 years.
Shaheen, who has led Lahore Qalandars to three PSL titles in the last five years, is expected to remain skipper until the ODI World Cup in Africa next year.
(IANS inputs)
