In a surprising turn of events, cricket fans worldwide were left confused when Babar Azam, the talented Pakistani batsman, abruptly resigned from the captaincy of the Pakistan National Cricket Team across all formats. The resignation news sent shockwaves around the cricket fraternity, leaving the cricket community and fans perplexed and curious to know why. This blog will delve into the circumstances surrounding Babar Azam’s resignation.
Factors behind Babar Azam’s Resignation
There are many factors on which Babar Azam’s resignation seems to be, some of which we have discussed below;
World Cup Campaign 2023
Despite being the number 1 ODI team, the Pakistan Cricket Team collapsed before the World Cup and couldn’t regain momentum. In the ICC World Cup 2023, the Pakistan Team could only win 4 out of 9 games, finishing outside of the semi-final stage and suffering defeats against their rivals India, Afghanistan, South Africa, England, and Australia. They won matches against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. Fans were extremely disappointed with the team’s poor performance, putting pressure on Babar Azam and his captaincy throughout the tournament.
Leadership Challenges
Babar Azam’s captaincy tenure has had its highs and lows, with the charismatic cricketer leading the national team across all formats. Inconsistent team performances and player controversies can be the challenges that come with captaincy. Leading the Pakistani side entails a unique set of pressures. The inconsistent performance led to extreme backlash from Pakistan’s cricket fans, pressuring the team to improve its game. These leadership challenges can contribute to Babar’s decision to step down as captain.
Personal Performance
Cricket is a sport where individual and team performances go hand in hand. Babar Azam, known worldwide for his stroke-playing style, saw his performance comparatively affected due to the burdensome captaincy role. The great batsman scored 320 runs in 9 World Cup games at an average of 40 while leading the team. His performance could be better as he is a great batsman of the modern age. Understanding the correlation between on-field performance and leadership decisions is crucial to solving this mystery.
Behind Closed Doors
Every team has unique dynamics; what happens behind the doors decides the captain’s tenure. A rumour has been circulating about rifts within the team and clashes of egos. The inside politics of the Pakistan Cricket Board is a challenge to survive as a captain. Nowadays, Zaka Ashraf, as a caretaker PCB chairman, holds a meeting with Babar regarding the team’s performance in WorldCup, after which Babar resigned. Although it is said that he offered him Test Captaincy, Babar declined and resigned across all formats.
Pakistan Cricket has been doing these kinds of mishaps since 1996, so there is nothing new. Wasim Akram had to leave the captaincy following the failure of the Pakistan team in the 1996 and 1999 World Cups. Waqar Younis was forced to retire from cricket after a bad performance in 2003. The same goes for Inzamam ul Haq in 2007. Shahid Afridi was sacked as Captain after losing to India in the 2011 World Cup semi-final. Misbah and Sarfraz were sent home after the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, respectively.
Babar Azam Captaincy History
Babar Azam is a valuable asset for Pakistan Cricket. The Captaincy Record of Babar Azam speaks volumes about his capability. His captaincy tenure started in December 2020; Babar Azam led the Pakistan National Cricket Team in 130 international matches. In tests, he led the team in 20 matches and won 10, lost 6 and 4 were drawn. In ODIs, he led the team in 39 matches, won 24 and lost 13. In T20Is, he led the team in 71 matches, won 42, and lost 23 while six went with no result.
The notable batsman has found the most success in white-ball cricket, where his win percentage is 61.54% and 59.15% in ODIs and T20Is, respectively. He resigned from captaincy across all formats on November 15, 2023.
New Captain of Pakistan Cricket
PCB was extremely prepared for his resignation, suspiciously so. Within an hour, the caretaker PCB chairman, Zaka Ashraf, announced the New Captains for the Pakistan team. He announced Shan Masood as Test Captain and Shaheen Shah Afridi as T20I captain. The ODI captain is in due course, which will be announced later. It’s high time to see if they can be better captains than him and lead Pakistan to the top rankings; fans are eager to witness the greatness of Pakistan Cricket.
CONCLUSION
Cricket enthusiasts need more clarity on the mystery behind Babar Azam’s resignation as the captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team across all formats. His captaincy tenure played a pivotal role in his great career. The cricket world will be closely looking forward to Babar Azam’s career regardless of whether it was the culmination of public criticism, internal politics, conflicts in teams, or personal performance concerns. He will rise again as a great batsman in Pakistan’s history.
