Pakistan Test team’s command again in the hands of Babar Azam, ‘musical chairs’ of captaincy continues

Delhi: An even bigger surprise than the selection of four new players in the Pakistan team for the Tests in their next West Indies and England tour is the appointment of Babar Azam as the Test captain again for both the series. The decisions Pakistan’s selectors have been taking for their Test team in the last few years have seemed like a game of ‘musical chairs’, but with a new experiment, instead of looking towards the future, it is inconceivable to go back to Babar Azam.

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In the last 6 years, there have been repeated changes in Pakistan’s Test captaincy. Bad results, changing administration in Pakistan Cricket Board and the changing selection policy along with it have been most responsible for all these changes. While on one hand all other big teams are following the policy of ‘long-term captain’, in Pakistan it has been seen that the ‘reset button’ has been pressed again and again. Take a look:
2019–2020: Azhar Ali was the captain in 8 Tests but stepped down from the captaincy after disappointing results outside Pakistan.

2020–2023: Babar Azam was the captain in 20 Tests but due to the changes that took place after the 2023 World Cup and the change in the Pakistan Cricket Board, Babar was removed from his job.

2023–2026: Shan Masood was the captain in 16 Tests but after winning only 4 Tests and losing 12, he was now removed.

2026: Babar Azam’s second innings as Test captain begins.

In this way, four regular Test captains in almost 6 years and this has not happened in any other major Test country. None of these were ‘stop-gap’ arrangements. There is not much example of Babar becoming a captain again in Pakistan cricket. It is a clear indication that the lack of alternatives and loss of confidence in Shan Masood is the result of Babar’s return as Pakistan’s Test captain. Even then, Shan Masood’s continued captaincy for 963 days is considered no less than a great achievement. During this period, Pat Cummins remained the captain of Australia continuously, Ben Stokes was seen by England as the ‘long-term’ captain, South Africa got very good results from the faith in Temba Bavuma and Indian cricket, which is often looked at in Pakistan, has also looked towards the future with the young Shubman Gill. On the contrary, no policy has worked in Pakistan and again the same Babar Azam is the captain.

Is there a guarantee that making Babar the captain again will solve all the problems of Pakistan cricket?

Azhar Ali : Scored 338 runs in these Tests with just 2 wins in 8 Tests at an average of 24.14 whereas his career average before captaincy was around 43. The player who was one of Pakistan’s most reliable Test batsmen lost his form with the bat and his captaincy.

Babar Azam: Won 10 out of 20 Tests and scored 1513 runs in this period at an average of 43.23 (5 centuries) but his batting average also dropped below 47. During this period, Babar remained out of the discussion about changes and new entries in ‘Fab 4’. Even in Pakistan, there was little comparison between him and Virat Kohli.

Shan Masood: He won 4 in 16 Tests and scored 915 runs at an average of about 33, which is better than his pre-captaincy career average of about 28, but the team struggled with him in the Tests and he too left. Shan Masood scored runs, scored centuries and completed 2000 test runs.

The biggest problem is that none of these captains seemed to feel that the team is under his complete control and Pakistan can play with him as a power in Test cricket again. In white ball cricket, captains kept changing even more rapidly, which means Pakistan cricket did not get stability on any side. The fear of selectors was the biggest hindrance in every captain’s control over the team. In Pakistan cricket, the future of the captain is decided by the test results and due to this policy, changes kept happening. In contrast, in modern Test cricket, ‘building’ a team with a consistent captain has proven to be the foundation of success.

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Babar Azam is now making a new scheme to strengthen Pakistan’s Test team and the biggest focus will be on discipline, fitness and better performance. In an interview with Salman Butt on ‘Straight Drive’ show, Babar said that he is confident that this time he will captain with a better scheme and positive thinking, ‘My biggest focus will be on discipline, fitness and performance. We have prepared according to the pitch and weather in West Indies and England and players who have experience of county cricket will come in handy now. Babar is forgetting that the biggest focus will be on his captaincy and if he wants to survive, history will have to change.