Babar Azam has been roped in by the Lanka Premier League (LPL) franchise Colombo Strikers for the upcoming season of the Sri Lankan T20 league cricket.
Prior to the auction on June 11, the talented batter has been named under direct signings for the competition. From July 31 to August 22, three locations—likely Hambantota, Colombo, and Kandy—will host the fourth LPL season.
Prominent cricketers such as David Miller, Matthew Wade, Shakib Al Hasan, Tabraiz Shamsi, and several others have also secured direct contracts for the LPL. The fourth edition will be played at three different venues, including Hambantota, Colombo, and Kandy, with the Jaffna Kings defending the championship title.
Pakistan is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series before the LPL, which is part of the World Test Championship for the next cycle.
The Men in Green are also expected to play a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan in the second week of August. Hence, the Pakistan captain is likely to be available partially for LPL.
Babar Azam To Remain Pakistan Captain Till 2023 ODI World Cup
Babar Azam, one of the most successful Pakistani captains, is now leading the team and will do so through the October 2023 World Cup in India.
Though the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not yet made an official announcement, it has been learned from reliable sources that the board’s think-tank, which consists of the chairman of the Management Committee Najam Sethi, chief selector Haroon Rashid, and director of coaching Mickey Arthur, has unanimously decided to trust Babar as the team’s captain through the 2023 World Cup.
Along with serving as the team’s captain during the World Cup, he will also represent the group in all competitions and series building up to the major event.
“Following a series of meetings over the last few weeks that also included online meetings and during the mid-April meeting when Arthur was here, the troika has decided to continue with Babar as the team captain till the World Cup. It is believed that since there was no potential candidate who can come even closer to his abilities as a cricketer and captain, the best and most sane approach is to continue with Babar as the captain till the ODI World Cup 2023,” the source confirmed to The News.
“His ability to handle the team in crunch situations and his personal contribution that makes him a leader who can lead the team from the front makes him one of the best not only in Pakistan but around the world as well. The decision to retain him, captain, till the World Cup was unanimous as all three during the meetings were convinced that Babar was standing alone at the top of captaincy aspirants list for the extravaganza,” the source maintained.
Babar is invincible on the format’s batting order in addition to briefly guiding the squad to the World No. 1 ranking in ODIs.