On Wednesday, October 2, Pakistan batter, Babar Azam announced his decision to step down from white-ball captaincy following the team’s dismal outing in the recent past. However, his decision came as a shock while there were speculations since the team’s group stage exit from the T20 World Cup 2024 in the UAS and West Indies in June.
Several reports have now informed that the 29-year-old was set to be retained as ODI captain, seeing the Champions Trophy set to be played in February 2025, but their white-ball coach, Gary Kristen wasn’t interested in continuing with Babar at the helm in the shortest format of the game.
Why did Babar Azam resign from Pakistan’s white-ball captaincy?
As per a report published by Cricket Pakistan, Kristen presented the T20 World Cup report and discussed captaincy changes after the team’s exit from the tournament. “During a meeting in July, Kirsten presented his T20 World Cup report and discussed captaincy changes with Babar Azam. Despite Kirsten’s continued efforts to persuade Babar to lead the ODI team, the batter was not convinced due to feelings of distance from the players and a sense of undervaluation” the report citing Cricket Pakistan wrote.
Furthermore, sources added that differences in the team, between the coaching staff and players resulted in Babar Azam to take this step. “Sources indicate that after the World Cup, there was a lack of communication between Babar Azam and the cricket board. The cricketer was not involved in any consultation processes during this time. Before announcing his resignation, Babar informed a senior board official of his decision” the report added.
Meanwhile according to PTI, Babar Azam was unhappy with head coach Gary Kristen and his assistant, Azhar Mahmood’s recommendations. “Babar was not happy with the observations and recommendations of Kristen and even assistant coach, Azhar Mahmood and felt he was solely being blamed for the disappointing performances,” a reliable source told PTI as quoted by OneCricket.
Moreover, it reveals that things worsened when Gary Kristen’s recommendations were made public, adding, “He had indicated to the cricket board after some parts of Kristen’s report became public that he was no interested in remaining captain.” It is to be noted that Babar Azam quit captaincy for the second time in a less than a year as he now aims to focus on his “playing role”.