There is no shortage of drama as far as Pakistan cricket is concerned. The last few years have seen a game of musical chairs being played out for the captaincy of the national team, and once again, the chatter has begun over Babar Azam returning to the chair of ODI skipper. The speculation is through the roof that the batter might replace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi as the ODI captain.
Babar recently replaced Shan Masood as Pakistan’s Test captain, and under his tenure, Pakistan managed to walk away with a 1-1 series draw. Post that, chatter picked up steam about Babar also returning to the leadership role in the 50-over format ahead of next year’s World Cup in South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
However, Shaheen has finally broken his silence on the matter, saying he remains at the helm for now. However, he refrained from saying anything more about the issue.
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“For now, I’m the captain,” Shaheen told reporters.
Speaking of Shaheen, he was named Pakistan’s ODI captain after the Green Shirts failed to make the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. The pacer replaced Mohammad Rizwan. However, under Shaheen, the results have been mixed so far, and Pakistan haven’t played that many ODIs.
Injury concern
Apart from the captaincy issue, Shaheen also spoke about the rising number of injuries and how they, time and again, hamper the team’s preparation heading into big tournaments. He said that the National Champions Cup will help the players create depth in the players’ pool.
Shaheen also highlighted the importance of letting players breathe easy and perform in their preferred and specialist roles.
“Whenever we go to a World Cup, we face a lot of injuries. In case there are any injuries before the World Cup, we will already have players available,” said Shaheen.
“The tournament pool will make it easier for us to find replacements. This tournament will give everyone an opportunity to play according to their respective positions,” he added.
Shaheen also believes that the performance in the domestic competition will help influence Pakistan’s World Cup planning since the tournament is just one year away.
“All the players will try to put in good performances. As I said, our focus is on the World Cup. Besides individual performances, the performances and fitness of other players will also be assessed,” he said.