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'No One Forced Him To Resign' - Mohsin Naqvi Opens Up On Babar Azam's Decision To Step Down As Captain

Sakshi Sharma

Babar Azam and Mohsin Naqvi (Source:@Rnawaz31888/x.com)Babar Azam and Mohsin Naqvi (Source:@Rnawaz31888/x.com)

Pakistan Cricket and Babar Azam have recently been going through a lean patch after the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023. The Men in Green have been playing poor cricket, and they have endless problems to tackle. 

It is worth mentioning that Babar Azam stepped down as Pakistan's all-format captain last year after Pakistan faced an early exit from the ICC Men's ODI World Cup semi finals. However, as there was a leadership change in PCB, Babar Azam was re-appointed as the captain for the T20 World Cup 2024. 

But again, Pakistan could not change its fortune and faced another setback as they failed to progress from the group stage. After another failure, the 30-year-old right-handed batter decided to step down as Pakistan captain again.

Mohsin Naqvi Stresses On Babar's Importance In Pakistan Cricket

After Babar Azam decided to give up captaincy duties, many fans accused and blamed PCB of forcing Babar to make the decision. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi shed light on this. While speaking to reporters at a media conference on Sunday (October 27) in Lahore,  Babar decided to leave captaincy, but no one forced him to do so. 

He also added that Babar did not want to continue with his captaincy, so he gave up on his role. Mohsin Naqvi said that no one forced him to resign as captain it was his choice.

“Babar humara Pakistan ka ek asset hai. Kafi arse baad is tareh ke bade players aate hai. Usne mujhse raabta kiya aur usne kaha ki Mohsin bhai mai as a captain continue nahi karna chahta. Kisi ne usse koi… bahut sari baatein beech mein aato nahi thi, lekin main apko bata sakta hoon ki PCB mein se kisi se usse koi na raabta kiya tha ki aapne captaincy chodni hai ya kuch karna hai, uska khud. Usne pehele coaches se aur baki logo se apna mashwara kiya aur fir mujhe kaha ki main as captain continue nahi karna chahta (Babar is an asset. He spoke to me, and he told me he didn’t want to be captain, and let me make it clear that no one forced him to resign as captain. It is his own personal decision. He had sought advice before resigning),” Naqvi said.

Mohsin Naqvi further added that the main reason that Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy was to focus on his batting and get back his form at earliest. 

“Uska jo bhi faisla tha… Vo apni game par jyada focus karna chahta hai aur hum sabki khwaish hai vo apni form mein wapis aaye aur usi tareh ki performance de jis tareh ki vo pehele deta raha hai (Whatever his decision was… he wants to focus more on his game, and we all want him to return to his form and start performing well once again), he added.

In the same press conference on Sunday, PCB announced Mohammad Rizwan as the new white-ball captain of the Pakistan men’s cricket team, and all-rounder Agha Salman was appointed vice-captain. He will take up the captaincy during the first ODI between Pakistan and Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground.