I offered to retain Babar Azam as the captain for red-ball cricket: Zaka Ashraf

Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf recently came forward to reveal that he offered white-ball captaincy to star Pakistan batter, Babar Azam. However, the batter refused the proposal, saying that he would rather be removed as skipper from every format than be skipper in one format. 

It is worth noting that Babar Azam stepped down as Pakistan’s skipper across formats after the ODI World Cup 2023 in India. However, in a shocking decision, Babar was reappointed as the skipper in white-ball formats, replacing Shaheen Shah Afridi after just one series in charge of the side. Speaking to reporters recently, Ashraf revealed that he did advise Azam to continue playing as a player ahead, as the star batter found it challenging to handle the pressures of captaincy. 

"I offered to retain Babar Azam as the captain for red-ball cricket, but we wanted to appoint a new captain for white-ball cricket. He responded by stating that if he were to be replaced as captain in one format, he would rather step down from captaincy in all formats,” Ashraf was quoted as saying by Cricketpakistan.pk.

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“Consequently, I suggested that he should focus on playing as a team member for Pakistan, as it was clear that he was finding it challenging to cope with the pressure of captaincy,” the former PCB chief concluded. 

Pakistan continue on-field duties with New Zealand series

Speaking of Pakistan’s on-field assignments, the Asian side is gearing up to take on New Zealand in a five-game T20I series. Both sides will take on each other in five matches, with the first three matches set to be played in Rawalpindi, and the last two scheduled in Lahore.

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Both sides will square off against each other in the series which will be played between April 18 and April 27. It is worth noting that the side travelled to New Zealand for a five-game T20I series, back in January. The Men in Green only won the fifth T20I, losing the series by a margin of 4-1.