Babar Azam, Pakistan's star batter, is set to lose his white-ball captaincy, as indicated by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) snub. Babar Azam was not named captain of any of the five teams for the upcoming Champions one-day Cup tournament.
Saud Shakeel, Pakistan's Test vice-captain, has been selected as one of the captains for the Champions One Day Cup, alongside Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Haris, and Mohammad Rizwan.
According to a Cricket Pakistan report, Pakistan may appoint a new white-ball captain for its forthcoming tour of Australia, with Babar's future in the job questionable. Pakistan is set to play three T20Is and as many ODIs on their tour down under.
The report also mentioned that Pakistan white-ball coach Gary Kirsten had a discussion with PCB officials about Babar Azam’s captaincy. Discussions are expected to center around Rizwan's potential appointment.
Mohammad Rizwan is being tipped as Babar's successor as white-ball skipper. Furthermore, reports say that if Rizwan is confirmed as captain, he may be considered for leadership responsibilities in all three formats of the game in the future.
Babar has been in dismal form recently, particularly in Test cricket. During the Test series against Bangladesh, he was removed for a duck and scored just 22 runs in the first Test. Meanwhile, in the second Test, he scored only 31 and 11 in both innings.