New Delhi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made a major reshuffle of Pakistan’s Test team. The board has removed Test captain Shan Masood from his position, and Babar Azam has been appointed as his replacement. This decision was made during the announcement of the squad for the two-match Test series against the West Indies. This means that Babar will be captaining the Test team during the upcoming Test series against the West Indies.
What is the reason for the replacement?
Shan Masood’s captaincy has been a disappointing one. He became captain almost three years ago. He led the team in 16 Test matches, losing 12 of them. No captain in Test history has lost so many matches in his first 16 matches. Furthermore, Pakistan has lost its last seven Test matches in a row.
Soon after Masood became captain, the Pakistani team suffered a 3-0 defeat against Australia. Subsequently, for the first time in history, Pakistan lost a Test series at home to Bangladesh, 2-0. The only positive development during Masood’s captaincy was that his team managed to win the series against England. Under his captaincy, Pakistan played a total of seven Test series, winning just one and losing four. This poor performance led to Pakistan languishing at the bottom of the World Test Championship (WTC) points table.
What about Babar Azam?
Babar Azam’s record as a captain is significantly better than that of Shan Masood. Under his captaincy, Pakistan won 10 out of 20 Test matches, including clean sweeps in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Babar’s batting average during his tenure was also over 50. However, under his captaincy, Pakistan also suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to England, a first in Pakistani Test history. Lacking any other strong captaincy options, the PCB has reposed its faith in Babar Azam.
