Ian Chappell shows sympathy for Babar Azam amidst Pakistan’s captaincy chaos

Staff Report

LAHORE: Babar Azam’s tenure as captain of the Pakistan cricket team came to an abrupt end following a disappointing performance in the ODI World Cup 2023 held in India.  Despite high hopes for a turnaround after a lackluster Asia Cup campaign, Pakistan finished fifth in the 10-team competition, prompting Azam to step down from the captaincy.  The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) subsequently appointed Shan Masood as captain for Tests and Shaheen Afridi for T20Is. Ian Chappell, a legendary Australian cricketer turned commentator, expressed empathy for Azam, acknowledging him as a “very good player.”  While speaking on the Wide World of Sports Outside the Rope, Chappell, however, characterized the frequent change in captains as typical of Pakistan. “Yeah that’s a pity, I think Babar’s a very good player. He’s not leaving the Pakistan side and maybe they can find a better captain. But it’s typical of Pakistan, they change captains (frequently),” Chappell said. Despite criticisms of Azam’s captaincy, his overall record remains impressive, having 78 wins and 44 losses in 134 games across formats.

Looking ahead to Pakistan’s upcoming tour of Australia, Chappell noted the challenge posed by Australia’s pace attack, including Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood. Pakistan’s historical struggles in Australia, with only four wins out of 37 Test matches, were highlighted by Chappell.  While acknowledging the potential decline of the Australian side, especially with the eventual departure of Warner, Chappell emphasized the formidable nature of Australia’s pace attack, particularly on bouncy pitches, which he believes could trouble Pakistan. “The problem with Pakistan is they don’t have a great record in Australia, even when they had good sides who could bat and bowl. They’ve got some good quickies at the moment but the bounce of Australian pitches has always troubled them,” Chappell said. “If you look at the Australian side, they might be on the wane a bit, particularly when Warner goes but they’ve still got a very good attack and it’s a good pace attack. Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood, those blokes will worry Pakistan with that extra bounce,” he concluded.