Pakistan National Cricket Team’s Test Vice-Captain Saud Shakeel has made a big announcement saying that there is no discussion among Pakistani cricketers in the dressing room about Babar Azam’s resignation as captain.
Saud Shakeel has revealed that there is no tension in the Pakistan team and the dressing room is quite healthy ahead of the all-important three-match Test series. England National Cricket Team.
Babar Azam resigned as Pakistan captain
On October 2, Babar Azam shocked the cricketing world by climbing the official X arm to announce his decision to step down from the white-ball captaincy.
In the post, Babar Azam said he was honored to lead the national team, but added that he decided to step down from the captaincy to improve his personal development and batting performance.
Notably, this was the second time in 12 months that Babar Azam has stepped down from the captaincy, as he was sacked as the white-ball captain after the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and also relinquished the red-ball captaincy.
Later, Babar Azam was reappointed as T20I captain as PCB sacked Shaheen Afridi after one series. But Babar’s performance as captain did not improve after his reappointment and Pakistan continued to struggle, forcing the batsman to relinquish his leadership role.
If a selector resigns it is his personal decision and Babar’s decision is also personal and in white ball cricket – Saud Shakeel
Meanwhile, Test vice-captain Saud Shakeel said Muhammad Yousuf and Babar Azam’s decision to step down from the roles of selector and captain was their personal decision and had no impact on the red-ball team.
“If a selector resigns, it is his personal decision and Babar’s decision is also personal and in white ball cricket. So it doesn’t matter because both things are related to different formats. The red ball team will not be affected and we haven’t even discussed it as a group. The environment is healthy,” Shakeel said at a press conference.
England always play attacking cricket and that always lets you… – Saud Shakeel
Saud Shakeel and Babar Azam will next be seen in the three-match Test series against the England National Cricket Team and both will have to play a crucial role in helping Pakistan win the series.
Pakistan under Shan Masood recently suffered a shocking 0-2 defeat at home at the hands of Bangladesh National Cricket Team and a series defeat against England could lead to significant changes in the red ball formation.
Meanwhile, Shakeel echoed coach Jason Gillespie’s comments that they wanted to use England’s baseball against them in the series. Saud Shakeel believes England’s aggressive playing will give Pakistan enough opportunities to tempt the Three Lions into making mistakes. He elaborated:
“England always play attacking cricket and it always gives them an opportunity to make mistakes and use their mistakes to stay in the game,” Shakeel said at a press conference in Multan.
“We have been struggling with the bat at times and we have not been able to convert the starts into big scores. That is a point of concern. Finished streaks are now a thing of the past. Admittedly, we did not play well there. Our focus is on what lies ahead.
“But we don’t follow any particular style of cricket, we play according to the demands of any situation, which gives us flexibility.”
