Babar Azam Steps Down As Pakistan Team Captain For Second Time In A Year

Babar Azam resigns from Pakistan's white-ball captaincy to focus more on his batting performance. This is the second time he has quit from Pakistan team's captaincy duties within a year.

Babar Azam resigns as Pakistan's white-ball captain.

Source : PTI

Babar Azam Gives Up Pakistan Captaincy: Babar Azam has decided to step down from the white-ball captaincy of Pakistan men’s national team. In a late-night social media post on October 2 (Wednesday), Azam announced his decision to step down from T20Is and ODIs captaincy stating his desire to ‘prioritise’ his batting performance and spend time with family. Notably, this is the second time he has resigned as Pakistan captain. Earlier, Azam stepped down from all-format captaincy after Pakistan’s poor 2023 ODI World Cup campaign in India.

After his resignation from captaincy in 2023, Azam was reinstated as Pakistan’s white-ball captain in March of this year after an overhaul in the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) leadership.

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Dear Fans,

I'm sharing some news with you today. I have decided to resign as captain of the Pakistan men's cricket team, effective as of my notification to the PCB and Team Management last month.

It's been an honour to lead this team, but it's time for me to step down and focus…

— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) October 1, 2024

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After Azam’s return to captaincy, Pakistan toured to Ireland where they won the three-match T20I series 2-1 and then went to England, where they lost the four-match T20I series 0-2.

“Dear Fans, I'm sharing some news with you today. I have decided to resign as captain of the Pakistan men's cricket team, effective as of my notification to the PCB and Team Management last month. It's been an honour to lead this team, but it's time for me to step down and focus on my playing role,” Babar wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

After a series loss to England, Pakistan’s woes continued further as they faced a humiliating group-stage exit at the 2024 T20 World Cup, where they lost to hosts USA.

In his post, Babar mentioned that although captaincy has been a rewarding experience, it has been an added workload and that he wants to prioritise his performance and spend time with his family.

“Captaincy has been a rewarding experience, but it's added a significant workload. I want to prioritize my performance, enjoy my batting, and spend quality time with my family, which brings me joy. By stepping down, I will gain clarity moving forward and focus more energy on my game and personal growth,” he said.

“I'm grateful for your unwavering support and belief in me. Your enthusiasm has meant the world to me. I'm proud of what we've achieved together and excited to continue contributing to the team as a player. Thank you for your love and support,” Babar Azam said further.

Babar Azam was initially appointed as Pakistan's T20 captain in 2019, before taking over leadership of the Test and ODI teams in 2020. Since his first captaincy role in 2019, he has led Pakistan in 20 Tests, 43 ODIs, and 85 T20Is.