Pakistan cricket is bracing for a significant leadership change as star batter Babar Azam is likely to be removed as the white-ball captain ahead of the away series against Australia in November. The decision comes after Pakistan's disappointing performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where the team failed to qualify for the semi-finals, ultimately leading to Babar relinquishing his captaincy in all formats.

Babar's struggles and new leadership direction

Despite being reinstated as white-ball captain before the T20 World Cup 2024 under the new management led by Mohsin Naqvi, Babar was unable to guide the team to success. Pakistan suffered defeats to the USA and India, resulting in an early exit from the tournament. Babar’s personal form as a batter also became a point of concern, with his leadership questioned after the recent Test series against Bangladesh. Consequently, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is seriously considering removing Babar from his leadership role to allow him to focus solely on his batting.

According to reports from Geo News, the PCB is contemplating elevating wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan to the captaincy for all three formats. Rizwan has demonstrated strong leadership qualities in domestic competitions, most notably guiding the Multan Sultans to back-to-back finals in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Mohammad Rizwan poised for captaincy across all formats

Further signaling the shift in leadership, Rizwan was recently appointed as one of the captains in the newly launched Champions One Day Cup, a domestic tournament aimed at identifying future cricketing talents in Pakistan. While senior players like Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Saud Shakeel, and Mohammad Haris were also named captains, Babar was notably absent from the leadership list, hinting at the PCB's diminishing confidence in his captaincy.

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It is believed that Babar was informed of the decision as early as July, following consultations between the PCB and white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten. The official announcement is expected when Pakistan reveals their squad for the Australia series, set to begin on November 4, 2024.