Pakistan Cricket Board may remove Azhar Ali as the Test captain when the team tours New Zealand in December amidst speculations that Mohammad Rizwan could replace him.
It was nearly 12 months ago that Azhar Ali replaced Sarfaraz Ahmed as the Test skipper of Pakistan. However, the Pakistan Test team has produced meek results under Azhar Ali’s leadership. Earlier this year, Pakistan toured England where they lost a 3-match Test series 0-1.
Azhar, who is the most Test capped player now in the national team with 81 appearances, is said to have lost favor with an influential member of the cricket committee while the PCB Chairman and CEO are also said to be having second thoughts about retaining him as captain.
Azhar Ali has struggled with the bat in the last two years, averaging 30.41 and 21.73 respectively. During this tenure in 15 Tests, the right-handed batsman two centuries and four half-centuries.
Wicketkeeper-batsman, Mohammad Rizwan who played gutsy knocks in England this year and recently led the KPK team to the National T20 Championship title is said to be favourite to replace Azhar.
PCB CEO Wasim Khan told a television channel that a meeting could be held on November 11 to decide on Azhar’s future and find a new chief selector as head coach, Misbah ul Haq has relinquished the post.
Azhar was captain of the One-day side for nearly two years after the 2015 World Cup before he decided to resign himself prompting the board asking Sarfaraz to take over as captain in all three formats.
