Pakistan Cricket Board statement reveals they had backed Babar Azam’s captaincy

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revealed that they had backed Babar Azam as their white-ball skipper after his resignation from the position at midnight on October 2, 2024. Babar shared a long post on his social media accounts announcing his resignation from the captaincy of both limited overs formats and mentioned that he had already informed PCB about his decision in September.
The PCB released a statement in response to Babar’s resignation and accepted his decision. The Board mentioned that he had their full backing as a white-ball skipper but respect his decision. The PCB also lauded Babar for his professionalism and commitment to Pakistan Cricket.
“Although the PCB had backed Babar Azam as the white-ball captain, his decision to step down reflects his desire to focus more on making a greater impact as a player. This decision is a testament to his professionalism and commitment to Pakistan cricket. He believes that dedicating himself fully to his batting will enable him to play a more decisive role in the team’s success in the shorter formats,” said PCB in a statement.
Babar was re-instated as Pakistan’s white-ball skipper in March earlier this year after his earlier resignation from all three formats in November 2023 in the aftermath of the disastrous 2023 ODI World Cup. Babar had replaced Shaheen as the T20I skipper while Shan Masood remained as the Test skipper.
However, Babar’s return to captaincy didn’t end well as Pakistan were knocked out from the T20 World Cup 2024 in the first stage itself after an embarrassing loss to USA. He led Pakistan in 43 ODIs, won 26 and lost 15 games.
He led his team in three T20 World Cups in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Under his leadership, Pakistan reached the semi final of the tournament in 2021 and finished as the runner ups in 2022 losing against England in the final. He finished as the most successful captain for his nation in T20Is having led the team in 85 matches and winning 48 out of those.
In Tests, he captained Pakistan in 20 matches and won ten games and lost six. Meanwhile, the PCB selection committee will once again begin searching for their new captaincy candidate in the limited overs format.