• Home
  • Who Said What
  • He Still Is The Leader Shan Masood Seeks Babar Azams Help Following Test Captaincy Call Up

'He Still Is The Leader' - Shan Masood Seeks Babar Azam's Help Following Test Captaincy Call-Up

image-lp2awyscShan Masood and Babar Azam (Twitter)

Even though he relinquished captaincy across formats, Babar Azam remains a pivotal figure in Pakistan's Test match plans and is still one of the coveted leaders within the group, insisted incoming skipper Shan Masood as he continues to prepare for the upcoming trip to Australia. 

Gearing up for his first assignment at the top job after a surprising ascent to the long-format captaincy amidst a shocking reshuffle in the aftermath of Pakistan's disastrous pre-semifinal exit at the ICC World Cup 2023, Masood highlighted Babar's importance to him as a batter and experienced head. 

The captain underlined Babar's inputs from a wealth of experience gained through four years of sustained Test captaincy as an invaluable asset to his leadership planning and preparations for what has traditionally been Pakistan's stiffest assignment in the red-ball game. 

Pakistan have not only suffered a horrific 14 straight Test match defeats in Australia since the 1999-2000 trip Down Under but also endured a lacklustre run in the previous cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC), losing home series to Australia and England apart from conceding Test match defeats in Sri Lanka and West Indies. 


Masood Upholds Babar's Presence To Pakistan Test Set-up 

"Babar has a vast experience since he has captained the side for four years and even when he isn't the captain, he still is the leader of the team," said Masood, who had been integral to the Pakistan Test match set-up under Babar's captaincy and will now look to take the side forward from the ongoing slump.

One of Masood's major challenges will be to emerge as a captain who leads from the front as Babar did despite Pakistan's problems and inconsistent results. Ever since a pathbreaking previous trip to Australia in October 2019, Babar is averaging a whopping 57.65 with eight centuries and 15 half-centuries in his 28 Tests for Pakistan. 

"He had a major contribution in taking this team forward. I think he will take this team forward from now onwards," Masood added, having represented Pakistan in the previous 30 Tests and made 1,597 runs as a stable top-order batter. 

Masood has been appointed Test captain until the end of the new cycle of the Test championship spanning 2023-25, where Pakistan won 2-0 in Sri Lanka earlier in the year and apart from travelling to Australia for 3 Tests, they face West Indies, Bangladesh and England at home and tour South Africa.