'Lot of changes in captaincy is not good': Pakistan selector Inzamam-ul-Haq on Babar Azam's future as captain

The new Pakistan chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq believes “lot of changes in captaincy is not good” as questions regarding Babar Azam’s future as a captain arise. Babar has led the Pakistani side across all formats since December 2020. While Babar may yet not have a major trophy to show, he led the team to T20 World Cup final last year and even broke the duck for the team against India in World Cup — Pakistan had never defeated India in a World Cup match before the 2021 T20 World Cup. Inzamam, who’s had a stint as a selector for Pakistan earlier as well, was asked about Babar being the captain across formats and he replied in the affirmative. “See, lot of changes in captaincy is not good. I think Babar is doing great captaincy, and when I was chief selector before, Sarfaraz Ahmed was not captain of all three formats, but he became captain of all three formats later. So, I feel, there should be one captain of all three formats if he plays in all three formats. So, he should know how he has to take his players forward. But, this captaincy doesn’t come under my domain,” said Inzamam. Pakistan has just announced the 17-member squad for the upcoming bilateral series with Afghanistan and the Asia Cup. Given the political situation between both countries, the series will take place in Sri Lanka, a neutral venue. The matches will take place on 22, 24 and 26 August. The Asia Cup, which will take place from 30 August to 17 September, is co-hosted by Pakistan along with Sri Lanka. It was supposed to be held in Pakistan in totality, but after India refused to send the team due to security reasons, the Asian Cricket Council came up with a hybrid model. Speaking about the squad, selector Inzamam said, “We have selected players with the focus also on the World Cup and hope that the team brings laurels to the country.” Squad: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.