Last week, Pakistan’s Babar Azam stepped down as captain of the national team across all three formats of the game. Babar’s decision came shortly after the side’s disappointing exit from the 2023 World Cup, where it finished fifth; Pakistan faced defeats to arch-rivals India, as well as Afghanistan, while facing narrow losses to South Africa and eventual champions Australia as well. Speculations were rife over Babar’s future as captain even during the World Cup, and while his successor in ODIs is yet to be announced, Shaheen Afridi will now lead Pakistan in T20Is while Shan Masood was named the skipper in Tests.
Pakistan will return to action next month when the side tours Australia for a three-Test series, starting December 14. Ahead of the series, former Australia batter Ian Chappell spoke about Babar stepping down as captain and made an interesting remark on Pakistan cricket; the former Aussie skipper stated that it is “typical” of Pakistan to keep changing captains.
“Yeah that’s a pity, I think Babar’s a very good player. He’s not leaving the Pakistan side and maybe they can find a better captain. But it’s typical of Pakistan, they change captains (frequently),” Chappell said, speaking on Wide World of Sports.
Babar is a part of the Pakistan Test squad for the Australia tour but Chappell believes the visitors face a herculean task when they land Down Under.
“The problem with Pakistan is they don’t have a great record in Australia, even when they had good sides who could bat and bowl. They’ve got some good quickies at the moment but the bounce of Australian pitches has always troubled them,” Chappell said.
