Babar Azam’s tenure as Pakistan’s skipper has been extended by one year after the extension till T20World Cup, which was scheduled to be held in Australia but was postponed due to the aftermath of coronavirus pandemic, ended. He was initially appointed skipper till the 2020 T20 World Cup, but it was postponed. India will host the event in 2021 and Australia in the following year, 2022.
Sources suggest that Babar Azam who is also limited overs ODI skipper will assume responsibility of captainship till 2021 T20 World Cup to be held in India. Babar Azam who is also the captain of Pakistan’s One-Day International (ODI) side, is currently leading the Central Punjab side in the ongoing National T20 Cup in Rawalpindi.
Babar Azam Debuted In 2015 And Became Captain In 2020
Babar Azam is the only batsman to feature among top five players in each format. He averages more than 45 in each format and is often compared to Indian skipper Virat Kohli who also averages more than 50 in each format, but he isn’t that much experienced but have a long way to go as he is aged only 25.
He debuted in 2015 in ODI and 2016 in Tests and T20I. He has scored 16 international centuries, five in Test matches and 11 in One Day Internationals but is yet to score a T20I ton. He has featured in 29 Tests, 74 ODIs and 41 T20Is where he scored more than 1500 runs across formats. He made his World Cup debut in 2019 and was appointed captain in 2020.
Babar Azam Performances As Skipper
Babar Azam has led Pakistan in 9 T20Is with three wins, three losses and three no-results. He is yet to captain in ODI while Azhar Ali is the skipper in Tests. His predecessor wicket-keeper Sarfaraz Ahmed captained Pakistan in 37 T20Is, and 35 ODIs with 78% wins in T20Is, and over 60% wins in ODI. Sarfaraz Ahmed was also skipper in 13 Tests out of which Pakistan won four matches.
Sarfaraz Ahmed was dropped as captain after Pakistan’s poor show at 2019 World Cup where Pakistan failed to qualify for the semifinals after winning five and losing three while one match was no-result as New Zealand progressed for having superior run rate despite having same 11 points.